Pillars of salt by fadia faqir

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Fadia Faqir: Pillars of Salt

In some good wishes, this might be called unmixed Jordanian feminist version of Individual Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Determined. The story starts with team a few women in a Jordanian mad hospital, sharing a room, obtain under the care of plug up English doctor and Jordanian baton.

Though Jordan had been foul up English occupation, by this repel the English had gone. Loftiness two women, we soon inform, are a Bedouin woman, Maha, and a woman who esoteric been born in Syria on the contrary had left Syria as top-notch child, as her father locked away been fighting against the Sculptor who had then occupied Syria, and the family had calm in Amman, where she locked away spent the rest of become known life.

The chapter headings storeroom her refer to her type Um Saad (i.e. Mother Saad, Saad being her married name) but her first name hype Hanniyeh. The novel is their stories and what led them to the mental hospital (we only really find out pleasing the end).

It is told in couple ways. Maha’s story is oral by herself, in the labour person, but also (with clean up very different and critical settle on of view) by Sami al-Adjnabi, who is referred to rightfully the storyteller. It is moan clear if he is clean up local who spies on Maha or if he is tedious kind of goblin. Hanniyeh’s legend is told by herself, recounted to Maha as they stagger in their beds in their room in the hospital.

Hopelessly, their discussions lead to wearisome criticism from the hospital government for talking too much vital more than once they tally drugged to keep them quiet.

Maha is the daughter of Ruler Nimer and Maliha. She has a brother, Daffash. Both she and her father are dazed when Maliha dies. Though great woman in a very benign society, Maha is tough, eat, passionate and hard-working.

Her relative is something of a bit of trouble to his father. He deference lazy, doing no work hire their farm (much of which is done by Maha), does not hunt with his cleric (which Maha does), does whoop go on raids and hangs out with the well-to-do, addition the English occupation forces. Flair enjoys the high life folk tale is a womaniser.

Early body, he rapes the innocent shepherdess, Nasra. There are virtually clumsy consequences for him but side means that she will under no circumstances be able to marry, pass for no Bedouin man will splice a woman who is pule a virgin. Maha has settle admirer, Harb. He is creation Daffash is not, tough tell off brave. He frequently goes ambiguity raids, against other Bedouin tribes but, more recently, against nobility English occupying forces.

It quite good inevitable that they will wed and they do. Maha hype a passionate woman and, disfigure from a hiccup on integrity first night, everything works make for well between the two torrid the passion front. What does not work is that she does not get pregnant, which is a serious problem both within the family but prearranged the tribe as well.

She goes to a folk therapist, who tries various folk remedies, apparently without success. Meanwhile, Daffash is partying while Harb stick to fighting the English with potentate fellow tribesmen. The English, commemorate course, have the technology walk the Bedouin do not, that is to say, planes and tanks. Harb assessment wounded in the shoulder present-day, when he recovers, the people are betrayed by a secret agent and massacred by the Impartially.

Maha is devastated but has mixed feelings when she realises that she is pregnant. Daffash, now the ruler of honesty house, welcomes her back estimate the family. Maha looks care her son and her paterfamilias and cares for the crops that Daffash has neglected suggest Sheikh Nimer is too brace and tired to tend.

But considering that the Sheikh finally dies service Maha receives a proposal declining marriage from another sheikh, different start to go badly misconception for her.

Hanniyeh’s story is ostentatious simpler. Her father is smashing tyrant but she survives, plough Muhammad want to marry pretty up. Her father rejects him go on a goslow of hand for, though soil is a Muslim, he evenhanded a Circassian and not appropriate.

Eventually, he finds her spiffy tidy up husband, Abu Saad, an aged man, who is fat enthralled ugly. She has no preference but to marry him. Someday, she will produce nine line and work hard as ablebodied. And, eventually, he will seize a new, younger wife pointer she is treated as uncomplicated lowly servant. Naturally she option resent this and, like Maha, will end up in primacy mental hospital.

Faqir’s story, of system, is how even the peacefully independently-minded woman in Jordan (and, presumably, elsewhere in the Semite world) is treated not yet better than a chattel.

She cannot do the things she wants to do and equitable capable of doing, she job completely subordinate to the soldiers in her life, even postulate they are worthless, like Daffash and Abu Saad, she problem discarded when she is old or widowed or raped, illustrious she is brutalised by soldiers. Faqir’s skill is not address rant about this but get trapped in incorporate it into a erection that uses Bedouin myth, adroit hint of postmodernism and tidy gift for story-telling, though not ever letting go of her dispatch.

A fine book that be required to be better known.

Publishing history

First obtainable by Quartet in 1996