A probing, thoughtful story about the plausibility of a happily polygamous life.
A wealthy man pursues a polyamorous fantasy of sex and devotion.
One little-known fact is that the Indian province of Goa permits the practice of polygamy for some men, provided that their first marriage is childless; a more commonly known fact is that many men around the world secretly fantasize about sitting at the center of an exotic harem. Debut author Irvine draws on both of these tidbits to create an erotic, philosophical novel about a man named Omar Al-Ghamdi, who returns to Goa after receiving an inheritance, determined to build a fantasy life. He desires multiple partners but hates “the tears, then the name-calling” of breakups, so he asks a matchmaker to make sure that a prospective bride “understands that although she will be my first wife, she is not to be the only one.” His first wife, Yasmin, orgasms at his slightest touch; his second, Aman, “thank[s] him, earnestly” after she loses her virginity to him. His third wife, Jamilla, is, as Irvine describes it, “blessed with a fabulous bottom, like a pony’s.” Omar’s attempts to balance the desires of his growing family—including the professional aspirations of one wife and the childbearing urge of another—is where much of the later story lingers. Meanwhile, Omar takes to mysticism, tantric sex, and Taoism. His journey to be an honest and good man animates most of the intellectual material here, all of it stimulating, though some of it is very clearly bound to the 1970s, the decade in which the novel is set. Irvine, to his credit, allows one of his characters to roll his eyes regarding “Tantra, sex yogis…all that weirdness,” exactly the sort of stuff that Omar loves. Readers are left to ponder the believability of Omar’s mostly harmonious and sexually fulfilled life, and there’s little question that the overall fantasy here will appeal mostly to straight men. But it will also interest anyone who enjoys a smoothly paced story about obsession, prose as taut as skin, and dialogue as transparent as Omar’s lusts.
A probing, thoughtful story about the plausibility of a happily polygamous life.Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-78589-886-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd.
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A vivid sequel that strains credulity.
Fremont (After Long Silence, 1999) continues—and alters—her story of how memories of the Holocaust affected her family.
At the age of 44, the author learned that her father had disowned her, declaring her “predeceased”—or dead in his eyes—in his will. It was his final insult: Her parents had stopped speaking to her after she’d published After Long Silence, which exposed them as Jewish Holocaust survivors who had posed as Catholics in Europe and America in order to hide multilayered secrets. Here, Fremont delves further into her tortured family dynamics and shows how the rift developed. One thread centers on her life after her harrowing childhood: her education at Wellesley and Boston University, the loss of her virginity to a college boyfriend before accepting her lesbianism, her stint with the Peace Corps in Lesotho, and her decades of work as a lawyer in Boston. Another strand involves her fraught relationship with her sister, Lara, and how their difficulties relate to their father, a doctor embittered after years in the Siberian gulag; and their mother, deeply enmeshed with her own sister, Zosia, who had married an Italian count and stayed in Rome to raise a child. Fremont tells these stories with novelistic flair, ending with a surprising theory about why her parents hid their Judaism. Yet she often appears insensitive to the serious problems she says Lara once faced, including suicidal depression. “The whole point of suicide, I thought, was to succeed at it,” she writes. “My sister’s completion rate was pathetic.” Key facts also differ from those in her earlier work. After Long Silence says, for example, that the author grew up “in a small city in the Midwest” while she writes here that she grew up in “upstate New York,” changes Fremont says she made for “consistency” in the new book but that muddy its narrative waters. The discrepancies may not bother readers seeking psychological insights rather than factual accuracy, but others will wonder if this book should have been labeled a fictionalized autobiography rather than a memoir.
A vivid sequel that strains credulity.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-982113-60-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Solid, practical advice for women on how to properly nurture their sons.
How women can raise boys to become good men.
More than ever, women are under pressure to be "everything to everyone," writes Meeker (The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity, 2010, etc.), as "working women feel that they must perform equally well both in the office and in caring for their home, husband, and children." The dynamics of raising boys is especially difficult for women due to the gender difference and the fact that women tend to be nurturing and helpful while allowing their sons to evolve into men in a constantly shifting masculine paradigm. Through research and interviews from her own practice, Meeker gives women the necessary tools to understand that perfection is not a realistic goal but that doing the best one can will ensure good results. Equally useful to single mothers and women with husbands is the advice that sons need to know they are loved from a very young age, as this builds a foundation of confidence in a child, a base that allows a boy to gradually move away from his mother as he interacts with male peers and elders. A boy's home life must be solid: a safe haven to return to regardless of his age, a place where his thoughts and feelings are respected and where he can express his hopes and dreams without fear of judgment. Meeker recommends introducing boys to religion, prayer and the unconditional love that comes from having a strong faith to boost self-confidence. She also skillfully navigates the world of sex—from a boy's first body awareness to the powerful effects of pornography and sexual messages embedded in social media, video games and news media, to his interactions in the world of girls and women. A mother's imprint on her son is powerful right from birth and remains so throughout her son's life. Meeker's advice gives women the tools to navigate these often rocky waters with confidence.
Solid, practical advice for women on how to properly nurture their sons.Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-345-51809-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
