Married to a Bedouin

I’ve just finished reading “Married to a Bedouin” by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. She was a young New Zealander travelling the world in the late seventies, when she met Mohammed, one of a Bedouin tribe, who lived in caves and tents among the archeological remains of an ancient Nabatean civilisation in the valley of Petra.

She travelled onward, but circumstances brought them together again and she realised that he was the man for her. This is her account of their life together told simply but vividly. She starts off knowing nothing of the language or culture, seeing the Bedouin from an outsider’s view. Gradually she comes to know each individual, adapts to their lifestyle and becomes one of them. She is refreshing in her perspective, neither a saint promoting self-sacrifice for the man she loves, nor a high handed crusader trying to show them the benefits of civilisation. Occasionally her irritation with an incomprehensible tradition or superstition bursts out, but later on she comes to realise that there is a valid reason behind it.

For example, she is initially horrified to discover that a woman is considered ‘unclean’ for forty days after having a baby, as any Westerner would be. The reasons become clear however: the ‘unclean’ epithet isn’t a stigma, rather the new mother is given a chance to recover in a protected space, surrounded by all the other women of the family, friends, neighbours and so on, who cook, clean, fetch water, take care of the other kids, while she has no other duties than taking care of her baby and as a bonus she has the diversion of their company for forty days. No-one but her takes care of the baby and it is not shown around (for fear of the evil eye) until after the forty days are up, thus giving it a chance to develop its immune system before being exposed to the germs of the world.

Their cave, though primitive, sounds snug and warm and over time they acquire some modern conveniences – a gas oven, eventually a kerosene fridge and once Mohammed gets a driver's licence they have a car too.

This book records and encapsulates a way of life that is fast disappearing (by the end of the book the tribe had been resettled into houses away from the archeological site, their children were learning computer skills and many of the traditions of nomadic life had been left behind) and is a fascinating read, both for her personal story and the account of Bedouin life.

Amazon.com has an excellent customer review of Married to a Bedouin by someone who now lives in Petra.

To see more details at Amazon.co.uk on Married to a Bedouin click on this title link.

Iris and Ruby by Rosie Thomas

Iris and Ruby

This is the third book by Rosie Thomas that I’ve read now. Initially I was a little condescending, assigning them a library book rating – fine to get out of the library for a bit of light escapism but not ones to buy for myself. Now I’m persuaded to reconsider.

Iris and Ruby relates the interlocking but distant relationships of three women: Iris, an old woman living a solitary life in an old stone house in Cairo, trying to hold on to her precious memories of her great love in wartime Egypt; Leslie her daughter, a conventional wife and mother, who has suffered from feelings of rejection by her mother all her life; Ruby, her daughter, a troubled but feisty eighteen year old, rebellious and dyslexic, trying to find direction in her life.

Ruby runs away to stay with her unknown grandmother in Cairo. Iris is initially unwelcoming, unwilling to have her peace and memories disturbed, but Ruby’s persistance catches her interest and the two strong-willed women make a connection. Ruby is determined to help her grandmother record the memories which seem to be slipping from her grasp. Iris’ stories of her time in Cairo during the Second World War, the frenetic life of work and partying to forget the war, that lent intensity to relationships that could be cut short any day, weave in and out of Ruby’s present day exploration of Cairo and the development of her relationship with Iris. Leslie is left out of the equation, frustrated both in her intense love for her daughter and her need for her mother’s love that she feels she has never won.

Rosie Thomas strength is her story-telling. I wasn’t drawn in to identify with the characters, though they are well-defined, my interest was kept by the gradual unfolding of the story and the eventual dawning of understanding and acceptance in the troubled mother-daughter relationships. The background of the war being fought in the desert added another layer of period detail to absorb and add to my historical knowledge base.

If you enjoy tales of strong-willed individual women with a war-time setting, do get this one. It is well written and crafted and I ended up liking the characters, even though I didn’t lose myself in them. To quote the reader's review on Amazon "an easy but intelligent read".

When I looked this book up on the Amazons it was only available from the UK..perhaps Rosie Thomas hasn't crossed the Atlantic yet? To see details at Amazon.co.uk on Iris and Ruby click on this title link.

The Children of Green Knowe by L.M.Boston

The Children of Green Knowe

This magical children’s book was one of my childhood favourites. Over the last few weeks I have been revisiting it with my children, so I looked it up on Amazon, expecting it to be out of print, and was delighted to find that the whole series were republished in 2002.

Tolly is an eight year old boy starting his holidays from boarding school. His father is posted abroad with his step mother, his mother having died long ago. Having spent his previous holidays at the school he is intrigued but apprehensive to find himself on the way to visit his mother’s grandmother, who he’d never met, in her ancient family home, Green Knowe. A quiet, rather lonely child, he quickly makes friends with his young-at-heart great grandmother and in exploring the old house finds it peopled with the reminders of other children of the family who lived there long ago. Gradually the three children become real to him as he catches tantalising glimpses of them and his grandmother recounts their stories.

Vivid detail and lively characterisation create an enchanting story that fascinates old and young alike. This is the first chapter book that my six year old has been interested enough in to listen to for long periods of time. Snow, floods, Christmas, feeding wild birds, tea in front of the fire, spirit children and an old house with loads of stories are the essential ingredients, with the warm relationship of Tolly and Mrs Oldknow at the heart of it. Lucy Boston weaves them together with great artistry into a gentle story (though with some tense episodes of suspense) that is timeless, despite the 50's background of Tolly’s boarding school and absent father that are so far from the experience of most of today’s children. It is a dreamy and slow-paced narrative, creating a special atmosphere, rather than relying on action for its appeal. I recommend this for ages 7-11 but it can be thoroughly enjoyed by older and younger as well.

See further details at Amazon.com by clicking on this title – The Children of Green Knowe.

Look at other readers’ reviews on Amazon.co.uk by clicking on this link – The Children of Green Knowe.

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

The Hundred Secret Senses

I really enjoyed Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, so on my next visit to the library I made a beeline for the T’s and found The Hundred Secret Senses. Diving into it on my return home, initially I thought –‘nice but the same characters rehashed’. Delving further into the book revealed the differences. The same over all theme of old world China meets modern day America prevails: the disparity of a rural culture with hundreds of superstitions and beliefs and urban San Francisco that has dispensed with all that long ago creates the narrative tension around which the protagonists reluctantly dance.

Olivia is a photographer whose marriage has just fallen apart. She is half Chinese, half American and since she was five her Chinese half sister Kwan has both fascinated and irritated her with her stories of ghosts that she sees with her Yin eyes and her memories of her past life that she seems to remember in all its details. As an adult Olivia feels a guilty resentment towards Kwan, who has always loved her devotedly, but oppressively, however rude or offhand Olivia is to her. One of the main rocks that her marriage to Simon foundered on, was the ever-intrusive memory of his previous girlfriend who had died tragically, before Olivia met him. Kwan is determined to help repair Olivia’s marriage and a trip to China working on a travel article seems to be the ideal opportunity to bring them back together.

Amy Tan’s characters are brilliantly three dimensional. You start off sharing Olivia’s irritation with Kwan’s endless talk of spirits and past lives, but by the end, as Olivia’s understanding grows, you are brought to see that Kwan actually was the one who could see the truth beneath life’s facade after all. The emotional and spiritual depth of Amy Tan’s writing is always there but applied with a light hand and liberal doses of poignant humour.

These are books I want to buy, to keep on my shelf to dip into for refreshment. I don’t want to have to give them back to the library and lose this delightful well of quirky humour and idiosyncratic prose.

Click on this title for details on The Hundred Secret Senses from Amazon.com.

Click here to see what Amazon.co.uk have to say about The Hundred Secret Senses.

My Family and other Animals by Gerald Durrell

My Family and other Animals


I’m re-reading this old favourite for the umpteenth time. I hesitate to call it a classic, as all too often it can be interpreted as weighty or inaccessible and Gerald Durrell’s writing is none of those things. Light and sparkling descriptions of his childhood in Corfu, hilarious anecdotes of his eccentric family and his absorbing interest in all things animal, conveyed with such enthusiam that it delighted me as a child reading it for the first time, just as much as it does when I revisit it now as an adult.

His family fled cloudy grey Bournemouth in the 1930’s for the scintillating shores of Greece long before tourism and package holidays changed the face of the Meditteranean. Unspoilt beaches, welcoming locals and a selection of dilapidated villas are the background for his story and it is peopled by his family: his older brothers - Lawrence, the writer whose prose is indeed weighty and impenetrable and Leslie mostly interested in sport of the double-barrelled variety, his sister Margo suffering the usual adolescent angst over her appearence and his mother, delightfully vague pottering around her kitchen preparing lavish meals. Gerald Durrell has a sure eye for the absurd and many lightning sketches of the eccentric guests who visit them and the tutors who occasionally try to educate him, as well as Spiro the Greek taxi driver who adopts them, enliven the pages.

I recommend this to anyone, who needs a dose of sparkling sunshine and refreshing, gentle humour and as a bonus you can learn about the tortoises’ courtship rituals, how scorpions raise their young and plenty more amusingly related snippets of natural history. Gerald Durrell was to me what Animal Planet is these days to my son, only in a more distilled form, an introduction to the endless variety of animal life and more importantly conveying such enthusiasm for it that you can’t help but be interested. Some of the stories may well have you giggling hysterically out loud, so read it in public at your peril!

To see what other readers on Amazon.com say about My Family and other Animals click on this link.

For details of My Family and other Animals on Amazon.co.uk click on this title.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picault

Plain Truth

I had this on my list of recent new favourites to review before the recent tragedy in the Amish community, made it suddenly sadly topical. If anyone wants to gain understanding of the Amish culture and way of life this novel is an excellent introduction.

Hardened city attorney, Ellie Hathaway, who never loses a case even when her clients might well be guilty, is reaching breakdown point with her life and relationship. She retreats to her aunt in a small town on the fringes of the Amish community. Before she knows what has hit her, she has become drawn in to the unprecedented case of an Amish girl, Katie Fisher, accused of smothering her new born baby to conceal its existence. To keep her unwilling client from awaiting her trial in jail, Ellie agrees to act as her warden, which means she has to spend the next few months living the Amish life with her client’s family.

Jodi Picault uses the legal processes as a mere framework to the human drama . The gradual unfolding of the characters and the secrets of Katie’s past, intertwined with her dissociative state around the birth of her baby, accompanies Ellie’s quest for the truth, which constantly eludes her and keeps a tantalising element of uncertainty right till the end of the story. Through observing the simple Amish way of life and their philosophy of forgiveness, Ellie gradually comes to terms with the unresolved issues that caused her near breakdown and reshapes her life.

I was totally absorbed by this book. Knowing nothing of the Amish culture previously I was able to see it as a real, meaningful way of living rather than an anachronism. The simplicity of the Amish way of life contrasts dramatically with the complexities of the individuals living it. The feeling with which the characters were portrayed inexorably drew me in to become involved with the resolution of the case. I can’t wait to get my hands on another of Jodi Picault’s books, but the only other one we have here, My Sister's Keeper, my sister-in-law refuses to let me read, as it portrays quite a heart-wrenching dilemma, regarding a child with leukemia, which as a parent might be too traumatic for comfortable reading.

To see what Amazon.com says about Plain Truth click on the title here.

To see Amazon.co.uk details on Plain Truth click on this link.

Hi!

Welcome to any of my friends from Food and Family who have ventured over here! Thanks for coming and looking. I'll be adding reviews about twice a week from now on, and will promise not to duplicate the same posts on both blogs any more! I've got loads more work to do here to rearrange the furniture and move in properly, so please shift a pile of books off a chair, sit down with a cup of tea and relax.