An intriguing but idiosyncratic combination of fiction, art, and political writing.
A debut work argues for a basic-income policy using the tale of a Lebanese woman in America.
Growing up in Beirut, LouLou has a traditional family that discourages any behavior it deems sexual or inappropriate. The Lebanese civil war is raging and religious fervor is on the rise. Organizations like Hezbollah insist that Muslim women wear hijabs. “Uninformed about sexuality at the age of sixteen,” LouLou muses, “I didn’t know the name for vagina in my own Arabic language, nor in my second and third languages, French and English.” At the age of 20, she and her siblings leave the country to live with an uncle in Austin, Texas, where she begins to take college classes. There, she finds herself in an arranged marriage to Maher, a Lebanese man, while in love with an American named Rafael, who turns out to be keeping secrets from her. Feeling as if she has no control over her life, she runs away from her family only to end up homeless, broke, and trapped in an abusive relationship. Interspersed with LouLou’s story are brief essays on the topic of basic income, which Nassif argues would mitigate or prevent many of the problems that afflict LouLou and people like her. The author’s prose is urgent and conversational, whether narrating LouLou’s trials or opining on the necessity of basic income. “If the poor women and men of suburban Beirut had a basic income,” Nassif writes, “many would become free to choose their authentic path without others deciding it for them. Many of these Lebanese women wouldn’t have covered themselves with a hijab or a chador in order to marry and receive income from the Hezb.” Accompanying the text are several striking, full-color illustrations by the author, depicting surreal visions of sexuality and human relationships. It’s an odd, slightly unstable mix of genres. LouLou’s story is memoiristic, without the normal shape of a novel, and the basic-income material, while well argued, feels almost like a non sequitur. Even so, the work cumulatively offers a remarkable portrait of a woman whose well-being is constantly threatened by the caprices of the men around her.
An intriguing but idiosyncratic combination of fiction, art, and political writing.Pub Date: March 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-692-07136-6
Page Count: 135
Publisher: Noon & Ta', LLC
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Breathtakingly magical.
A powerful homage to the natural world, from England by way of Canada.
Combining poetic words (somewhat reminiscent of Mary Oliver’s poetry in their passion for the natural world) with truly stunning illustrations, this unusually beautiful book brings to readers the magic and wonder of nature. This is not a book about ecology or habitat; this is a book that encourages readers to revel in, and connect with, the natural world. Focusing on a particular subject, whether it be animal, insect, or plant, each poem (rendered in a variety of forms) delivers a “spell” that can be playful, poignant, or entreating. They are most effective when read aloud (as readers are encouraged to do in the introduction). Gorgeous illustrations accompany the words, both as stand-alone double-page spreads and as spot and full-page illustrations. Each remarkable image exhibits a perfect mastery of design, lively line, and watercolor technique while the sophisticated palette of warms and cools both soothes and surprises. This intense interweaving of words and pictures creates a sense of immersion and interaction—and a sense that the natural world is part of us. A glossary encourages readers to find each named species in the illustrations throughout the book––and to go one step further and bring the book outside, to find the actual subjects in nature. Very much in the spirit of the duo’s magisterial The Lost Words (2018), this companion is significantly smaller than its sprawling companion; at just 6.5 by 4.5 inches when closed, it will easily fit into a backpack or generously sized pocket. “Wonder is needed now more than ever,” Macfarlane writes in the introduction, and this book delivers it.
Breathtakingly magical. (Poetry. 6-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4870-0779-9
Page Count: 120
Publisher: House of Anansi Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Great fun.
The second installment of childhood recollections (after Opposite the Cross Keys, 1988) by mystery writer S.T. Haymon, who here evokes a sheltered 12-year-old's further encounters with life's earthier side.
Haymon's 1920's, upper-middle-class childhood revolved typically around school, home, loyal servants, and a pair of doting, well-educated parents—until age 12, when her father died and her mother decided to move to London. Refusing to accompany her, the precocious, comically self-confident Sylvia tried to limit this series of upheavals by insisting on remaining in Norfolk in the care of a favorite teacher—except that at the last minute her headmistress (already a sworn enemy) switched houses, arranging for two maiden schoolteachers to put Sylvia up in their house instead. Sylvia knew that the Misses Gosse and Locke were eccentric. What she didn't know was that the skinny, aggressive history teacher and the teary, puppy-like math professor were lesbians. Nor did she notice as Miss Locke's increasingly desperate infatuation with her began to lead the entire household toward destruction. Amusing characters abound—the gardener, Sylvia's only ally, whose faith in the value of a virgin's tips on the horse races led him to pay her for advice; the dour housekeeper who sang opera and downed bottles of gin; the art teacher's model who bewildered Sylvia with talk of "randy old dykes"; and the spiritual channel who informed her that her daddy was watching everything she did from heaven. Haymon's depiction of herself as an unusually clever, frequently petulant, and thoroughly practical young girl obsessed with filling her stomach while all sorts of passionate fireworks exploded around her evokes an era when secrets still existed and scandals were bursting to happen—and makes for slyly humorous, very British entertainment.
Great fun.Pub Date: Dec. 14, 1990
ISBN: 312-04986-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
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