cubanita 's review for:

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane

5.0

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This book is extraordinary. It is one that questions, head-on, the view of man as a "sun" around which the lives of women must revolve. Rami, the main character, tearfully realizes that "every man" is "an animal threatened with extinction, but who merits preservation, who dies by the thousands on the field of battle because he can't control his greed for love, ambition, and power. Everything is his right: to kill, to love, to summon, to possess." Her recognition of the absurdity of prizing man to the extreme detriment of woman propels her to brazenly challenge her lot in life and to confront her husband's lovers, her own family, her husband's extended family, and her expectations of herself. Chiziane's writing stirs all the emotions and is clear, fierce, nothing short of amazing. David Brookshaw's translation is seamless.