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A review by booksbythewindow
Pearls on a Branch: Tales from the Arab World Told by Women by Najla Jraissaty Khoury
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
(Full review to come)
I had a really good time reading this collection, and it has reminded me how interesting it is to dip into folk tales from different cultures. Khoury has clearly chosen the tales to include with complete care and Bushnaq has some fascinating insights into cultural differences in her translator’s note.
Khoury introduces the project that led to Pearls on a Branch in a short but fascinating author’s note at the start of the collection. She describes how her work with a theatre company touring refugee camps led to her beginning to transcribe the folk tales that women in these camps would tell, remembering stories her grandmother used to relay, passed on from her own grandmother. In transcribing these stories, Khoury noticed that there was a difference between the way in which these tales would be told when the husbands and children were present and when the women were on their own. There were nuances and shared experiences included in these tales that were only clear once the women were alone; Khoury summarises this, saying ‘certain stories told by women were for women only’ (p12). With this context in mind, the tales that follow take on a new meaning for the reader, who is noticing the small moments in the tales that are particularly providing these nods to the women listening to the story.
This is a collection I have already recommended to some people in my life and I would definitely recommend to more. As with any folk tale collection, there are definitely grim and gruesome aspects to the tales, but anyone who has enjoyed the tales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen will also enjoy this collection of Lebanese and Palestinian folk tales.
I had a really good time reading this collection, and it has reminded me how interesting it is to dip into folk tales from different cultures. Khoury has clearly chosen the tales to include with complete care and Bushnaq has some fascinating insights into cultural differences in her translator’s note.
Khoury introduces the project that led to Pearls on a Branch in a short but fascinating author’s note at the start of the collection. She describes how her work with a theatre company touring refugee camps led to her beginning to transcribe the folk tales that women in these camps would tell, remembering stories her grandmother used to relay, passed on from her own grandmother. In transcribing these stories, Khoury noticed that there was a difference between the way in which these tales would be told when the husbands and children were present and when the women were on their own. There were nuances and shared experiences included in these tales that were only clear once the women were alone; Khoury summarises this, saying ‘certain stories told by women were for women only’ (p12). With this context in mind, the tales that follow take on a new meaning for the reader, who is noticing the small moments in the tales that are particularly providing these nods to the women listening to the story.
This is a collection I have already recommended to some people in my life and I would definitely recommend to more. As with any folk tale collection, there are definitely grim and gruesome aspects to the tales, but anyone who has enjoyed the tales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen will also enjoy this collection of Lebanese and Palestinian folk tales.