Jennifer
Rating:
Review
This is a story about several strangers who come together in a terrifying set of circumstances – all in the name of hope for a better life. They take a boat illegally from Morocco to Spain. Almost all of them are caught, and sent back home, with less money and a lot less hope. The story unfolds after that with details about each of their lives and how their attempt to leave Morocco affects their lives and loved ones around them. They were risking their lives, as many drown in the process of trying to reach Spain, and spending huge sums of money for about a ten percent chance of escaping Morocco. It can be mind-boggling to those of us living comfortable lives with every freedom we could ever hope for. This book read extremely fast for me, and I devoured the story. And it reminded me of how good my life is in the United States, which makes it much easier to hope.
Best Line:
"He wondered if one always had to sacrifice the past for the future, or if it was something he had done, something peculiar to him, an inability to fill himself with too much, so that for every new bit of imagined future, he had to forsake a tangible past."
Kim
Rating:
Review
This slim novel revolves around four desperate people in current day Morocco: Murad, the young man who knows he wants a better life though is unsure how to go about getting one; Faten, who once dreamt of a college life; Aziz, who knows he must leave his wife and family if he is to make any kind of life for all of them; and Halima, a wife and mother who is miserable with her abusive husband. Their stories are divided between what happened before each one boarded a Zodiak boat and tried to enter Spain illegally, and after. I liked this book, devoured it in a sitting, and look forward to more works by Ms. Lalami.
Best Line:
"He wondered if one always had to sacrifice the past for the future, or if it was something he had done, something peculiar to him, an inability to fill himself with too much, so that for every new bit of imagined future, he had to forsake a tangible past."
