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A review by drjoannehill
The Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones
4.0
My view of this book changed drastically as I got through it. When I first started it, I read one chapter and put it down for about three weeks (I was still reading something else plus it hadn't really grabbed me). It was difficult to get back into and I think the size was a bit daunting...nearly 1000 pages! This wasn't going to be a week's read. But once I picked it back up my pace quickened, as usual.
So, this is an epic tale of one man's life in the last 35 years of the 16th century, born to a Morisco (Moorish) mother who was raped by the village priest, trying to make his way in the two worlds of Spain at the time, from the Morisco rebellion of the 1560s to just after their expelling from Spain in the early 17th century. Both Morisco and Christian people hate him at different times/simultaneously. It's rags to riches to rags and back again a few times. It's about loyalty, survival, betrayal, lies, hatred and violence, and what individuals, couples, families and communities will do to protect themselves and people they care for. The blurb on the back of the book I found pretty useless as it describes the last 200 pages and then the first 50 pages so I was a bit confused most of the way through as to what the blurb was on about.
Some issues with the book. Like many other reviewers here, for a time I wondered how much more heartache and tragedy the family in the story could take. Until they are settled in Cordoba it is one thing after another, although that is the nature of war and forced migration I suppose. There are graphic accounts of violence so it is not for readers who don't like this. This includes sexual violence against teenage girls. In fact one aspect of the book I was uncomfortable with was that a teenage couple's love making could be described intimately, but when the girl from said couple was forced into bed by another man, this was moralised as disgusting purely because she was teenaged - so her sexual maturity and her body were described ... for readers' pleasure?? ... at one point and later we are supposed to feel she is far too young. Falcones needs a bit of feminist analysis there.
Better elements in the book: I enjoy and appreciate novels based in history that I have not studied, and while I know a fair bit about the Spanish American history of the time, the homeland did not feature in my studies so learning about the Moorish 16th century in Spain was interesting. Falcones does not take a side in the Christian-Muslim fight and actually presents both religions and cultures as bad as each other (from a 21st century perspective!) while both offering also 'nicer' or more enlightened aspects. The theological debates and story telling of the latter 2-300 pages were a fascinating surprise and I think that one of the conclusions Falcones tries to draw is that theologically there is little difference between Islam and Christianity - a lot of the differences are instead cultural. However, Turks and Berbers are not presented sympathetically at all so you could say there is still a Eurocentric view in the book. Finally, Falcones clearly appreciates architecture and historical cities so there are some rich descriptions of Cordoba and Granada.
So, this is an epic tale of one man's life in the last 35 years of the 16th century, born to a Morisco (Moorish) mother who was raped by the village priest, trying to make his way in the two worlds of Spain at the time, from the Morisco rebellion of the 1560s to just after their expelling from Spain in the early 17th century. Both Morisco and Christian people hate him at different times/simultaneously. It's rags to riches to rags and back again a few times. It's about loyalty, survival, betrayal, lies, hatred and violence, and what individuals, couples, families and communities will do to protect themselves and people they care for. The blurb on the back of the book I found pretty useless as it describes the last 200 pages and then the first 50 pages so I was a bit confused most of the way through as to what the blurb was on about.
Some issues with the book. Like many other reviewers here, for a time I wondered how much more heartache and tragedy the family in the story could take. Until they are settled in Cordoba it is one thing after another, although that is the nature of war and forced migration I suppose. There are graphic accounts of violence so it is not for readers who don't like this. This includes sexual violence against teenage girls. In fact one aspect of the book I was uncomfortable with was that a teenage couple's love making could be described intimately, but when the girl from said couple was forced into bed by another man, this was moralised as disgusting purely because she was teenaged - so her sexual maturity and her body were described ... for readers' pleasure?? ... at one point and later we are supposed to feel she is far too young. Falcones needs a bit of feminist analysis there.
Better elements in the book: I enjoy and appreciate novels based in history that I have not studied, and while I know a fair bit about the Spanish American history of the time, the homeland did not feature in my studies so learning about the Moorish 16th century in Spain was interesting. Falcones does not take a side in the Christian-Muslim fight and actually presents both religions and cultures as bad as each other (from a 21st century perspective!) while both offering also 'nicer' or more enlightened aspects. The theological debates and story telling of the latter 2-300 pages were a fascinating surprise and I think that one of the conclusions Falcones tries to draw is that theologically there is little difference between Islam and Christianity - a lot of the differences are instead cultural. However, Turks and Berbers are not presented sympathetically at all so you could say there is still a Eurocentric view in the book. Finally, Falcones clearly appreciates architecture and historical cities so there are some rich descriptions of Cordoba and Granada.