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Shadows of Ghadames
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From: Kathy Isaacs <kisaacs>
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 13:52:00 -0500
I read and reviewed this book when it came out and found it a picture of a truly different world. Like the protagonist, Malika, and the stranger the women of the house befriended, I learned that the world of women at that time was richer than I had suspected. But I was most struck by the utterly foreign feel. It is truly difficult to wrap your mind around a world that confines women to the rooftops, or to effacing themselves against the walls of the city's alleys. I did not know if it was the translation or the actual substance of the story that made it all seem so distant. And I did think readers should be forewarned that this is historical fiction. You aren't told how long ago this all was (more than a hundred years) until the author's note at the end.
Kathy Isaacs
Received on Wed 16 Mar 2005 12:52:00 PM CST
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 13:52:00 -0500
I read and reviewed this book when it came out and found it a picture of a truly different world. Like the protagonist, Malika, and the stranger the women of the house befriended, I learned that the world of women at that time was richer than I had suspected. But I was most struck by the utterly foreign feel. It is truly difficult to wrap your mind around a world that confines women to the rooftops, or to effacing themselves against the walls of the city's alleys. I did not know if it was the translation or the actual substance of the story that made it all seem so distant. And I did think readers should be forewarned that this is historical fiction. You aren't told how long ago this all was (more than a hundred years) until the author's note at the end.
Kathy Isaacs
Received on Wed 16 Mar 2005 12:52:00 PM CST
