A Shield of Coolest Air
Another fantastic novel by Marion Molteno. I can’t believe that I heard she had to self-publish her books, first, before they were picked up by these fairly small speciality presses. They’re so good!
This one focuses on Somalia; it was written in 1992, set before that, so it’s a Somalia before the Americans and the UN peacekeepers, the horror which most of us think about when we hear that word. It’s just before it, though; a government of oppression and torture, perhaps the same government that is in place at the moment. Not sure. Anyway, Hassan is half Somali, half British, and lives in London, working for a Refugees Advocacy group. His father is put into prison in Somalia and there’s nothing he can do. His cousins come over as refugees and there’s nothing he can do. All he can do is try to use his lawyer’s skills to advocate for other people.
Rachel is from South Africa, and has to leave with her three children when her husband, a photographer, is arrested there. He’s released, they all travel to London, and he pretty much abandons her there. It takes her a while to find out how to live in that world. She eventually makes friends with a few other mums from the local primary school, and that’s how she gets involved with some of the issues for refugees and Somalia. She ends up going to the Refugees Advocacy place to get information for a Somali friend, and that’s how she and Hassan meet.
It’s a really well-written story about human beings; their race, their background, everything else is secondary, they’re human beings first. It’s told in limited third person, swapping between Rachel and Hassan, and has a lovely gentle style which never distances the reader. The title is from a Somali poem, and there are quotations from about twenty others scattered throughout the story. It’s a beautiful way to be introduced to a culture which most people know only from war-stories. This is a war story, too; but it focuses on the people in it rather than the conflict itself.
This one focuses on Somalia; it was written in 1992, set before that, so it’s a Somalia before the Americans and the UN peacekeepers, the horror which most of us think about when we hear that word. It’s just before it, though; a government of oppression and torture, perhaps the same government that is in place at the moment. Not sure. Anyway, Hassan is half Somali, half British, and lives in London, working for a Refugees Advocacy group. His father is put into prison in Somalia and there’s nothing he can do. His cousins come over as refugees and there’s nothing he can do. All he can do is try to use his lawyer’s skills to advocate for other people.
Rachel is from South Africa, and has to leave with her three children when her husband, a photographer, is arrested there. He’s released, they all travel to London, and he pretty much abandons her there. It takes her a while to find out how to live in that world. She eventually makes friends with a few other mums from the local primary school, and that’s how she gets involved with some of the issues for refugees and Somalia. She ends up going to the Refugees Advocacy place to get information for a Somali friend, and that’s how she and Hassan meet.
It’s a really well-written story about human beings; their race, their background, everything else is secondary, they’re human beings first. It’s told in limited third person, swapping between Rachel and Hassan, and has a lovely gentle style which never distances the reader. The title is from a Somali poem, and there are quotations from about twenty others scattered throughout the story. It’s a beautiful way to be introduced to a culture which most people know only from war-stories. This is a war story, too; but it focuses on the people in it rather than the conflict itself.
posted by Carly at 6:38 pm
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