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40x40

ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Country of Others in Books

Sep 19, 2021  
The Country of Others
The Country of Others
Leila Slimani | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a fascinating look at Leïla Slimani’s own family history.

Mathilde falls in love with, and marries, Amine Belhaj, a Moroccan stationed in Alsace. After the war, she sails to Morocco to live with Amine on his family farm. Life is so different to that in France, and Mathilde struggles to adapt. The French there shun her because of her husband, and Moroccans are suspicious of her because she’s French.

It’s a time of great upheaval in the 1950’s, as the Moroccans fight for independence from France, and life becomes increasingly dangerous for the Belhaj’s.

It’s a challenging life for Mathilde: she has to work hard, and Amine has a very fixed idea of a wife’s role. When she doesn’t stick to his rules, voices her opinions or disagrees, Amine beats her - he’s a violent man, scarred by the things that he saw and experienced in the war.

Mathilde does manage to insist that their daughter, Aicha, goes to a good French speaking school, and Aicha proves to be a good, diligent student - but the other girls at school are poisoned by their parents views: they’re very unkind and bully her.

There is a real feel for the heat and dust of Morocco. The contrasting cultures and religions of Christianity and Islam are shown, as well as the roles of women and how they are restricted in the light of their religions and it’s traditions. It looks at what it is to be a foreigner in a strange land; belonging, both in a country and a family; and the Moroccan struggle for independence from France.

This is going to be a trilogy, and I’m already fully invested in it - I can’t wait for the next book. Sam Taylor’s translation is perfect, and I hope that they’ll be translating the subsequent books as well.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for helping me (yet again!) with my NetGalley reading, and to Faber for my ebook copy through NetGalley.
  
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Deborah (162 KP) rated Jane Austen and Food in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
JA
Jane Austen and Food
Maggie Lane | 2003
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Over the years there have been a glut of 'Jane Austen and.....' books. She just far enough away for us to need some explanation of some of the things that her contemporary readers wouldn't have thought twice about and this is one of the things that this book does very well. Confused about service a la Francaise or a la Russe? Think the French Bread at Northanger is like a modern French Stick or not sure why Mrs Grant's Turkey wouldn't keep until Sunday? - this book will certainly help you there!

Of course, it goes a little deeper than that. Only on occasion are we given reference to very specific foodstuffs, so when we do, you can bet there is some greater significance to it. There is also the significance of female characters as 'housekeeper' and what this says about them. Mrs Jennings may at times be a comic character and have lower social origins, but sh is a good housekeeper, in contrast to Mrs Price, who really doesn't know what she is about.

I read this on Kindle and there could have been a little more in terms of proof reading. The book itself ends at about 80% in due to index, bibliography and an extract from another book - I mention it as it came sooner than I expected.