Mantel evokes Saudi life marvelously. He was a man of thirty-five, unmarried, with a loose and dusty appearance and shifting eyes; he had a gray-white skin, but the back of his neck was at all times mysteriously and painfully sunburned. Of course, if you fly Saudia, theyre always late as well., Too often. It happened that at the time when Andrew Shore was ready to move on, Turadups Saudi Arabian manager, a man called Eric Parsons, was in Johannesburg trawling for expertise. Across the aisle grown men were getting drunk on Cointreau. tcl a503dl sim card. He had an unsparing fund of anecdote, a knowing, dirty laugh; a British passport, and a vaguely Australian accent. Noon can very well be at twelve-thirty. Its set up to be this psychological thriller where Arab culture/Islam stands in for the "other" and the "alien." The author herself lived in Jeddah for four years under not dissimilar circumstances and so the extremely unappealing depiction of the city, its inhabi. As her days empty of certainty and purpose, her life becomes a blank -- waiting to be filled by violence and disaster. It seemed such a small thing, obtaining a visa for one unimportant woman to join her unimportant husband, but she had once been assured, by a man called Jeff Pollard, who understood these things, that when corruption took root in a country it spread in no time at all from monarchs to tea boys, from ministers to filing clerks. As this occasion will pass, she thought; and in time, this flight. The streets are not a woman's territory; confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self begin to dissolve. But Frances knows otherwise, and day by day, her sense of foreboding grows even as her sense of herself begins to disintegrate. Flimsy cushions flatten under head and back. He keeps a place in the Cotswolds though. She turned away and bent over the tea chest again, cleanly stabbed by avarice, like a peach with a silver knife. The city of Jeddah is steeped in darkness and changes too often to be caught on paper, while as a Western woman in this culture, she is both objectified a. Tense and unnerving, punctured with moments that seem blackly comic until you remember that this is a depiction of a real place and time and not a dystopian parody, this novel reads like a cross between travel writing and psychological thriller. Thats terrible. There are lots of things more terrible, she thought, and even I have seen some of them. : Thats his job, picking up strange people., But youre a woman, the steward said. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. That experience is so evident in the writing - the relentless, wearing heat, dust and boredom and the fear of something not quite definable. The fear and suspicion of foul play experienced by the protagonist would have had me running for the airport as fast as I could go. I cannot understand why Mantel created her story around such an unpleasant woman. Whats his line of country?, Hes a civil engineer. : This colleague of mine, when he was last in the Kingdom, he had his book of limericks confiscated. Drifting, she caught bits of their conversation: jargon, catchphrases. Was Yasmin meeting Samira's husband in the empty flat? Hes going to manage their Jeddah business; hes had experience out there, of course., So you mean youll be working with him?, I hope we dont end up living near him as well., They do pay for your housing, so its probably a case of taking what youre given., Thats fine, she said, but just try to ensure that what were given doesnt include Pollard. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street book. It concerns a British couple in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. And it's well written, I guess. We havent made any here. Despite her skepticism, her better knowledge, their contrived images lingered in her mind: black tents at sunset, the call of the muezzin in clear desert air, the tang of cardamom, the burnish of sharp-snouted coffeepots, the heat of the sand. Its set up to b. When everyone is so negative about a place you begin to suspect it must have some virtues after all. Andrew thought that, once, someone might have offered him a bribe; but through the other partys ineptitude and poor English, and Andrews naivete, the occasion had passed without profit. It holds a bunch of deep Hilary Mantel thoughts, but the surroundings are so glum and the lifestyle holding such barriers of restrictive movement and solitary boredom, that this quality leeches into the book itself. There was no sensation of movement, no intimation that they were in flight. A cartographer by profession, she really has no hope of working while living in the Kingdom. She hears whispers, sounds of distress from the 'empty' flat above her head. Or someone will. I thought if youd been a nurse we could have had dinner. She imagined herself already in Saudi, a discreet teetotal housewife, homesick for this place that was not home in another place that was not home. It was the Carlton, he noted; Turadup did not penny-pinch. But then, it could not be her dead body that Fairfax saw carried downstairs, since Yasmin was alive the next day (Francis saw her in the car in the traffic jam). At this pointone morning over breakfastAndrew had said, What about the Middle East?, Oh no, she said. And women arent allowed to drive? Share | Add to Watchlist. Basically, the idea is that a British woman follows her husband to Saudi Arabia for a contracting job he gets, and then slowly goes crazy stuck in the apartment alone. [2] Mantel felt the book anticipated later developments in the culture clash between Islam and the West: "I felt a bit frustrated because as events developed, I had a sort of I-told-you-so feeling. If you like that sort of thing. He turned away, back to his companion. Ive not been out that way for a while. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. The characters are not developed sufficiently. Focalised via Frances, the wife of an ex-pat British engineer, this manages to make life in the Kingdom appear alien and troubling without recourse to any kind of unscrutinised Western cultural superiority, at least not from Frances. After I read "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies", which count among the best books I've ever read, I began to work my way through Hilary Mantel's other books. Left alone, she closed her eyes. At least, Im glad I went there. players, roofs, garden features, structural engineering, structural system, construction, floors, office equipment, furniture, forestry, masculine given names, thought, locomotion (biological), parts of a theatre, Travel ends and routine begins and old habits which you thought you had left behind in one country catch up with you in the next, and old problems resurface, but if you are lucky you carry as part of your baggage the means of solving those problems and accommodating those habits, and you take with you an open mind, and discretion, and common sense; if you have those with you, you can manage anywhere. eight months on ghazzah street ending. I thought it would be interesting to follow the author on her discoveries through living in Saudi Arabia understanding that this was a work of fiction. Its un-Islamic, Frances said, to worship the human form. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. His contract in Botswana was a month away from its termination date, and they were already packing and selling things off. Not in my experience. Or hold it back. So I cant tempt you? the steward asked. His fingers, dispensing the miniature bottles, were as clean and careful as a bishops. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2022. It was true that you could go as far as Johannesburg now without steeling yourself for the journey over dirt roads; it ought to have been an advantage, but in fact it made life too easy. I loved how she portrayed the wife's feelings of going slightly stir crazy, more or less trapped as she was in their rather grim flat, yet with an interest in her neighbours and their way of life; setting that against the prejudices of other ex-pats, the antipathy and hostility of the authorities towards women, particularly Western women. The dialogue is very close to how it would have been in a real situation. They can jail you for it., But hes a taxi driver, she said. A really interesting read and, as is so often the case, based on Mantel's experience - apparently she did the same. The operator came back once or twice, bellowing in his ear, but she didnt forget him entirely; in time she came up with what might be her best offer, a line to Mafeking. Its idolatry. The man stared at her. Narrated by: Sandra Duncan. And I could take a taxi., You cant take a taxi. Andrew had never been communicative, so it had been necessary to notice these things. The UK building trade had slumped into what seemed chronic recession; they didnt know what they were going to do. The black tents of the Bedu have been replaced by aluminium shacks. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. See guidelines for writing about novels. This book creeps up on you. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET By Hilary Mantel. Dull clunk of ice cubes against plastic. "A Borrowed Life: A Novel" by Kerry Anne King for $8.99, A bold, searingly honest and uncompromising novel. , twice won the Booker Prize, for her best-selling novel. It's the subtleties of the conversations that the reader should pay attention to, since they hold the key to the subsequent tragedies. Much of the novel speaks about the treatment of women, using a variety of examples -- Frances . Souvenir. Another brandy?, Keep the young lady sober, the businessman advised. witnesses plural possessive; soccer player haircut; Wednesday, 2 December 2020. "Hilary Mantel: on the path from pain to prizes", "Hilary Mantel: health or the Man Booker Prize? Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET "Would you like champagne?" This was the beginning; an hour or so out from Heathrow. Hes a shareholder. Would be better as a novel or short story, Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2014. British citizen Frances Shore accompanies her husband to his new job in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There is no way Westerners can condone the backwards-seeming attitudes, but we do - in order to avail ourselves of Saudi riches. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (1988) a serendipitous find at the library is in the same vein, with the added frisson of having been written in the aftermath of Mantel's own unhappy sojourn in . It seemed that when oil was discovered in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia had no infrastructure, but that it had one now: roads, schools, hospitals, factories, mines, market gardens and chicken farms, airports and squash courts, telephones and filling stations, cold stores and police stations, take-away food shops, and the ten-pin bowling facilities at the Albilad Hotel. At home, at her widowed mothers house in York, she had been reading books about her destination. After all, its not forever, is it?, No, its not for ever. How long now? he asked after a while. eight months on ghazzah street ending. I thought "Eight Months on Gazzah Street" would have worked better as a novel or short story. And you were in Zambia too? Frances is not timid, and sometimes walks the streets alone, which causes every male driver to shout obscenities at her as he drives by. A young English woman, Frances, follows her English husband to Saudi Arabia where he works for an international company. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street: A Novel Kindle Edition by Hilary Mantel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition 337 ratings Kindle $11.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial A taut and terrifying trip into a distorting mirror--a novel as tense, immediate, and chilling as the world it depicts. The East is portrayed as mysterious and secretive as opposed to the intrusive and nosy Western expats. However, the writing is superb, in the way that it describes the oppressive heat and stultifying boredom of life for an ex-patriot wife in a regime that she just cannot begin to comprehend. The prose is well written and evokes the claustrophobic atmosphere of a fundamentalist Muslim country like Saudi Arabia. Just as you are ready to settle on your settee with a cup of coffee and enjoy the trials and tribulations of a Brit abroad, bam! They go through everything, he told her. Get help and learn more about the design. So now when you were off to Jeddah, people said, Dont fall off any balconies, will you? It became monotonous. The personal restrictions they live under and the professional tangles they encounter are based on reality but the plot is rather melodramatic. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET Copyright 1988 by Hilary Mantel. He said, I have witnessed the biggest transportation of ready-mixed concrete in the history of the human race. The dogs and cats were coming in to be fed, wandering to the back door to wait around, like the Victorian poor. The author herself lived in Jeddah for four years under not dissimilar circumstances and so the extremely unappealing depiction of the city, its inhabitants, both locals and expats, and Saudi society is, fair or not, based on intimate acquaintance. The reader should give it a chance, since at first, it may seem a bore, with the dwelling on the the interior lives of the women at the house on Ghazzah Street. 1 title per month from Audible's entire catalog of best sellers, and new releases. Im just doing a final drinks round. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. GABORONELONDON. All his recorded highlights. His patience was not like other peoples, a rather feeble virtue, which had, by its nature, to be its own reward; it was a virtue like a strong magnet, which drew solutions to problems. Was that where you lived?, Well no, actually, we lived in a much smaller place. He passed them, one by one. When Frances Shore moves to Saudi Arabia, she settles in a nondescript sublet, sure that common sense and an open mind will serve her well with her Muslim neighbors. As her days empty of certainty and purpose, her life becomes a blank -- waiting to be filled by violence and disaster. As in UK, Arab expats or immigrants are intrusive and nosy, so the story is actually about Western expats in Arab countries. The story is modeled after "Turn of the Screw" by Henry James and, as such, leads to a suspenseful ending. When we finish up here Im to fly to Nairobi, and pick up a businessmans entry permitthen once Im in, Turadup will fix it for me to stay. The details were fixed up, at the President Hotel this time (there being, in Gaborone, a choice of two) over a tough T-bone steak and a glass of Lion lager. Hilary Mantel was the bestselling author of many novels including. Then he picked up the receiver; the lines were not down that day, and it was a mere ten minutes before he got an answer from the operator in Gaborone. If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. A dozen people had raised the question, in her two-month stay in England. You work?, Oh well, youre redundant. We could be in and out within three years, he said. As a reader I was felt as if I was with the couple, living their daily travails and tribulations. Learn more about the program. The East is portrayed as mysterious and secretive as opposed to the intrusive and nosy Western expats. Please.. Reprinted by permission. He moved away again. Will their form of law and justice take over the Middle East in its entirety? But since the early 1970s the Middle East had been what they called their major theater of operations. And by the time you get out to Jeddah, well be fixed up with a house, and everything will be ready for you.. , Paperback He did not suggest making the drive to Johannesburg, but waited until Parsons said, Ill come to you then, shall I? He knew how he would employ the time, as he drove to Gaborone to meet Parsons: he pictured himself at the wheel of his truck, the empty road and the low brown hills unwinding before him, while his practiced eye was half alert for cattle and children, and his inner will concentrated, mile after mile, upon making Parsons offer him more money than he had ever dreamed of earning in his life. Mantel was so masterful in evoking a suffocating environment that the suspense soa(u)red halfway into claustrophobia.The setting is super fascinating to me but I felt as if Mantel was just zooming in and out with the binocular without ever losing the blur. She pushed up the window shade and looked out, into featureless darkness. As ever; highly recommended. It's not clear to the reader, and it's not clear to Frances. Chap said he hadnt noticed., That seems unlikely, she said. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. You check in, and Ill look after you, and he can come and find you in the morning., Oh, Im sure hell be there, she said. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. I thought some of the plot was a bit far-fetched, but the story is so well written, I felt every hot, dusty baking day of this woman's life in The Kingdom. Getting through some of the chapters was like wading through treacle, but as the sometimes surreal, almost dreamlike sequences followed one another, I began to feel the oppression building to screaming point, as it does for the main character. Pollard says hes a millionaire. No, not really, she said. Additionally, I listened to the audiobook so its possible I missed something (something about the date of the memo, opening the book?). Already it felt further; watches moved on, a day in a life condensed to a scramble at a check-in desk, a walk to a departure gate; a day cut short and eclipsed, hurtling on into advancing night. But Parsons isnt like that., Yes, youd know the one. , Picador; First edition (September 1, 2003), Language The prose is well written and evokes the claustrophobic. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street: A Novel Paperback - September 1, 2003 by Hilary Mantel (Author) 368 ratings 3.6 on Goodreads 2,594 ratings Kindle $11.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover $70.17 5 Used from $66.17 Paperback $14.99 16 Used from $6.10 13 New from $13.37 Audio CD $19.46 2 New from $19.46 They tell me its worse now. Hillary has very successfully managed to expose the many frictions between Islam and the West in this unique and captivating novel. Youre a woman, arent you? Although this book is listed as a novel, it is a very authentic depiction of life of an expatriate wife in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. I suppose the staff are having prayers. About the whole scene in Jeddah. I have never read anything that so accurately describes the insidious fear that is ever-present, or the dreaded boredom, depression and loss of self-respect that come from living in the Kingdom. By: Hilary Mantel. And it's well written, I guess. The Saudis see no need for their foreign servants to be aware or involved. . Eight Months on Ghazzah Street: A Novel by Hilary Mantel. Eight Months On Ghazzah Street type Book genre Fiction Thirtyish cartographer Frances Shore knew that "women's decisions did not operate" in fundamentalist Islamic Saudi Arabia, where she. One of them cocked an eyebrow at the steward. It happened that at the time when Andrew Shore was ready to move on, Turadups Saudi Arabian manager, a man called Eric Parsons, was in Johannesburg trawling for expertise. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (1988) is the third novel by English author Dame Hilary Mantel, who won the Man Booker Prize in 2009 and 2012. Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts. Oh, they said he could have them back, when the customs had had a careful look. Having lived in Saudi Arabia, I was excited to read this book and 'compare notes' with Mantel. Who knew that the author of Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies had lived in Saudi Arabia? Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. All you need out of it is your day-to-day living expenses and you can bank the rest where you like, in any currency you like. Yes, it was definitely a spooky story, and it was no surprise that Mantel's characters were so repulsed by the environment that they were driven to flee its hidden dangers. The only reason I can see for this book's existence is an agenda to bash Saudi Arabia and reinforce Western stereotypes. Our rep in Riyadh, he lives there, he should know. Theyre always building, you see, money no object, but they dont think ahead. The plot is slight:woman follows her husband to his new job in Saudi Arabia and encounters extreme sexual segregation in the society, feels frustrated,parnaoid and out of control and stumbles upon a murky, suppressed sludgefund of secrets, and perhaps a violent mystery within her own apartment complex. She jerked out of her doze; shed not realized, at first, that he was speaking to her. This is a very interesting, entertaining, and even gripping, novel about life for an English expat in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, that eventually turns into a complex murder mystery. Will we ever find common ground? It says what it isnt, but not what it is.. , ISBN-10 Have you got those end-of-year projections? he asked. 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