... by Sebastian Faulks. Read on ...
Set firmly in
the French capital, this story begins in Morocco. Tariq is bored with the drudgery of his life. He craves attention from his female friend,
Laila, and he seeks approval from his ‘businessman’ father. Nineteen years of age and
testosterone-fuelled, he feels that life has somehow passed him by. Making an instant decision one day, he packs
up his college work, grabs his rucksack and a few items of clothing and tells
his step-mother that he’s going to France to find the family of his birth
mother who died – or was killed, he’s not entirely sure about his family
history – when he was nine or ten.
As he journey’s
across the Mediterranean and through France, he meets people who befriend him
and shepherd him towards what they believe to be his goal. In truth, Tariq isn’t clear about what his
real goal is. He just knows he has to do
something.
In Paris,
Tariq’s path crosses that of Hannah, a post-doctoral researcher from America
who has returned to France after several years of absence. As these two begin to dance around each
other, it becomes clear that they both have very different attitudes,
backgrounds, and needs. It also becomes
clear that they are both looking for something, but perhaps, not each other.
It was easy to
like Tariq as a character. He is full of
hope and wonder and is not held back by the wisdom that age and experience
bring. Although it takes him a long time
to admit it to himself, maturity, acceptance, and the self-confidence that goes
with those qualities are what he’s really seeking. The search for his mother’s family quickly
becomes a secondary issue.
Hannah was more
challenging to like. She is guarded and
scarred by a previous relationship and keeps herself reined in. When she meets an old friend, Julian, who also
lives in the city, I was immediately left wondering if she would change. As I kept turning the pages, I desperately
wanted there to be hope for Hannah.
Essentially a
coming-of-age story for Tariq and a romance for Hannah, the dynamics between
these two opposing characters are woven together and shredded apart with such
finesse that I found myself going back over some passages. In those moments, I wanted to fully immerse
myself in their pain, realisations, misconceptions and miscommunications.
Throughout the
book, the city of Paris sits serenely in the background, its modern buildings
and routeways overshadowing the history of the old order and the past. Internally for Hannah, there are echoes of
her previous extended visit to the city – her thoughts creating yet another,
perhaps weaker, echo from the recent past.
Add into the mix her research during the city’s occupation from 1940
until liberation, and you have another level of resonance. This time much more sinister, pervasive and
destructive.
The book was
thought-provoking and engaging; the narrative voices flowed beautifully and
were distinct - the story is told from Hannah’s and Traiq’s points of
view. I particularly liked the use of
Paris Metro station names at the start of each chapter. For me, it provided anchors within the city
in my mind’s eye, and when I came across one I could not visualise, I got out
my street map. This is a novel that will be staying on my bookshelf!
In this novel, as part of her research, Hannah visits Natzwiller a prison camp in the Vosges mountains. If you would like to read more about the significance of the camp, the link above will take you to a post I wrote following my own visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment