This book can be found here.
This debut novel follows the
character Dahlia as a woman living in Kuwait that straddles both modernity and
traditional cultural values in her life. This is a very strong theme within the
novel as Dahlia is almost thirty; which is the cut-off point for being a worthwhile
wife and bride for a man to choose.
This can be seen within the title,
which refers to the fact that when young, Dahlia and her two friends all made a
pact to be married by twenty-seven. This itself; though Dahlia wanted out of
the pact, shows the pressures of women and their roles even in modern Kuwait
that Dahlia is expected to live up to.
So, this novel is all about
self-discovery, self-identity and #metoo; but also the trials of just existing
within society. A lot of the characters tend
to struggle with life and its choices (most humans could);
whether from Kuwait or not. The added layer of this novel? AlAmmar’s Kuwaiti
traditional roles and ways of thinking adds dimension and struggle that I as a
Westerner may not have ever encountered if in similar situations. This made
parts of the novel much more difficult for me to read as I struggled with such
traditional views; which Dahlia seemed to have to manoeuvre through as well.
Saying that; the plot is slow-going. This is about Dahlia’s progression through this almost
“final” year of her life (or the beginning of her new one if it works out … not
telling you though). It means that even for the secondary characters there is a
sense of claustrophobia to their lives that can’t be escaped (possibly) and
this can also slow the book down.
Character is the driving force of the novel. It is mostly all
about Dahlia and her processes and this, again, becomes rather claustrophobic.
This is because it is first-person and so her voice and thoughts become
sometimes a little overpowering outside of the story. Whilst this lends itself
to strengthen a character trying to cope with trauma, some of it may push
readers to the side.
In truth, this could be another
layer to the novel: everyone is selfish and focussed ultimately on their own
thoughts, goals and issues and trying to get out of, or through, them (generally). This
would play well for a young adult audience, even with Dahlia almost pushing
thirty (given the traditional values of the family in this novel, she is
treated like a child and so definitely still fits). However, it might be a
tough read, not in terms of language (though Arabic is used at times – well
too, I might add), but because of Dahlia’s consuming thoughts. However,
overall, the insight into the culture and an individual trying to balance and
find their place in it was very well done.
Links for you:
Okay, so I am starting with an interview by AlAmmar with
this blog “Reading women”. Probably a little controversial connecting between
blogs, but this gives insight into AlAmmar’s writing processes.
Read-a-likes in the Library:
Jing-Jing Lee
Read-a-likes in cloudLibrary:
Mohsin Hamid
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