Review by Eileen R -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch
READ to Keys to Tetouan in
English getbook.at/keys2tetouan
Castellano getbook.at/llavesdetetuan
4 out of 4 stars
Keys to Tetouan is a beautiful historical fiction novel by bestselling author Mois Benarroch . It follows the story of the Benzimra family, a Moroccan- Jewish clan in their search for their identity and roots. The book follows the journey of the Benzimra family through the Middle East, Europe and Africa, as they’re exiled and robbed of their identity and origins. First published in 1999 in Hebrew, Keys to Tetouan is one of the books in the Tetouan trilogy, the others being Lucena and Gates to Tangier.
The book is made up of narratives by the Benzimra family in which they try to make the reader understand their frustration at being exiled from everywhere they’ve ever been including; Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In his line “How can I be a Spanish exile if I wasn't even born there, if my father wasn't born there, how is it possible you're an exile, exile everywhere, exile is my home…”, the author captures the very essence of emigration and exile.
Consisting of interviews, letters, dialogues and anecdotes, Keys to Tetouan fully narrates the story of the Benzimra family in an interesting yet unusual way. It’s not every day that you see a book that is bewildering yet enlightening at the same time. I was completely impressed at how the author succeeded in doing this.
Although it was unconventional in every way, the book was surprisingly good. To be honest, at first I was hesitant to pick this book for review. I rarely read historical fiction novels. However, after reading the first few chapters, I was completely hooked. I loved how the author used narratives to pass his message across.
Understanding where you come from is essential to building your own identity. Therefore I could understand when the Benzimra family and their generations asked the question, “where is home?” It’s easy to sympathize with their dilemma especially in today’s world where there are many emigrants simply looking for a place to call home.
The author might come across as blunt at times but it’s completely called for in my opinion. This bluntness solidifies the book’s position as a must read in my eyes. I loved how he didn’t beat about the bush when it came to matters of exile and origins. He asks the hard questions that more often than not we are quick to brush off.
I admit that there were some instances where I was completely lost and I had a hard time understanding the dialogues. It was so ambiguous at times that I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. However, I believe that this was completely intentional on the author’s part which made the book all the more interesting.
Overall, I rate this book a 4 out of 4. I have to say, it’s one of the best written books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It’s perfectly imperfect in my opinion. It was so masterfully written that I couldn’t resist giving it a perfect score. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for an intellectual challenge that will give you a completely different view on issues of exile and origins.
******
Keys to Tetouan
No comments:
Post a Comment