Translations
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3 months free
Translations
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Narrated by:
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Violette Ayad
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By:
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Jumaana Abdu
Amid a series of personal disasters, Aliyah and her daughter, Sakina, retreat to rural NSW to make a new life. Aliyah manages to secure a run-down property and hires a farmhand, Shep, an extremely private Palestinian man and the region's imam.
During a storm, she drives past the town's river and happens upon a childhood friend, Hana, who has been living a life of desperation. Aliyah takes her in and tries to navigate the indefinable relationships between both Hana and her farmhand. Tensions rise as Aliyah's devotion to Hana is strained by her growing bond with Shep.
Finally, all are thrown together for a reckoning alongside Hana's brother Hashim, and Aliyah's confidante, Billie - a local Kamilaroi midwife she met working at the hospital - while bushfires rage around them.
The book has perhaps two main themes alienation and assimilation. There is no question that the characters are Australian and willy nilly assimilated into the larger society. However, and this is the fascinating bit, they are determined, or perhaps just compelled, to do so on their own terms. That is for me what moves the story from a tale of a stranger in a strange land to a heroic one of give and take. Contributing without surrender.
The level of writing is not overly challenging. The characters are unevenly developed and the story is an old fashioned one of love and society. It is all told from a Muslim perspective without being didactic or confusing. Everything that happens is natural without apology or too much emphasis or explanation. This is what lifts it from a “ Muslim Bridgeton in the Outback” to a great story that plucks at the non-Muslim reader and engages and fascinates.
The way the police are dealt with seems superficial till one remembers that it describe a particular experience that to others might be pedestrian.
The writing itself is somewhat top heavy with an endless flow of adjectives and metaphors. That is why four stars instead of five. It brings the story dangerously close to melodrama at times. However the author always saves the day just in time averting the characters becoming a parody.
I think this is a very relevant insight into what it is to be a minority culture in Australia. It’s always a novel and never preachy or ideologically moribund. I can recommend it as a great read that will give the reader entertainment and something to think about.
An Australian Journey into a cultural difference
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