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A review by lydia_reads
Eight Months On Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel
3.0
This is a book of two halves. Literally. Weirdly.
It's very strange. I spent the first 50-60% of the book sighing in exasperation: white western woman arrives in arab country and hates everything! Urgh! I had so many issues with it! I couldn't tell whether Mantel was trying to make her main protagonist appear racist or whether she genuinely believes what she's writing. For example, Frances says that white women who adopt the headscarf on arriving in Jeddah are "selling out" and she genuinely asks her Muslim neighbour "why does your culture make you suffer?" Nothing at this point could have made me cringe more... other than the following:
That said, there was a bizarre and almost immediate shift from about 60% in onwards. Suddenly, events take a turn from the mundane day-to-day, to the frighteningly violent. Without spoiling it, it basically all goes a bit Agatha Christie and the results are thrilling! I found myself not only interested but hooked. There simply wasn't time for prejudiced musings on culture any more, the plot was just so much more exciting.
Based on the first half of this book, I would have given it two stars. Based on the last half, four. I compromised at three for now but I still can't really work out how to place it. It's like Jekyll and Hyde, one minute it's one thing, the next it's something completely different. I love Mantel, her works on Thomas Cromwell are my favourite works of historical fiction, but this just doesn't seem to live up to her standard at all. I won't be rereading this I don't think.
It's very strange. I spent the first 50-60% of the book sighing in exasperation: white western woman arrives in arab country and hates everything! Urgh! I had so many issues with it! I couldn't tell whether Mantel was trying to make her main protagonist appear racist or whether she genuinely believes what she's writing. For example, Frances says that white women who adopt the headscarf on arriving in Jeddah are "selling out" and she genuinely asks her Muslim neighbour "why does your culture make you suffer?" Nothing at this point could have made me cringe more... other than the following:
"The word Christmas is not to be mentioned but nobody can impede the progress of goodwill to all men."URGH! I was quite frankly embarrassed by the western-centricity of a book set entirely in the Middle East!
That said, there was a bizarre and almost immediate shift from about 60% in onwards. Suddenly, events take a turn from the mundane day-to-day, to the frighteningly violent. Without spoiling it, it basically all goes a bit Agatha Christie and the results are thrilling! I found myself not only interested but hooked. There simply wasn't time for prejudiced musings on culture any more, the plot was just so much more exciting.
Based on the first half of this book, I would have given it two stars. Based on the last half, four. I compromised at three for now but I still can't really work out how to place it. It's like Jekyll and Hyde, one minute it's one thing, the next it's something completely different. I love Mantel, her works on Thomas Cromwell are my favourite works of historical fiction, but this just doesn't seem to live up to her standard at all. I won't be rereading this I don't think.