I went into this book with high expectations, and overall this book met them. I enjoyed reading this book at the time, but ended up feeling somewhat dissatisfied. I couldn’t really pinpoint what was causing me to feel this way, hence I didn’t post a review. But now nearly a month later, I figured out why this generally well-written, well-plotted book left me feeling off.
Book Synopsis
Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui’s daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought she’d left for good; his widow, Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, an old friend of Nora’s and an Iraq War veteran; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son’s secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself.
Book Review
Here’s what I realized I didn’t like about the book.
I wanted a book about the Moroccan immigrant experience in the USA. I was keen to know more about the push and pull between Western and Moroccan cultures. I was looking forward to learning about Moroccan food, their culture, rituals, etc. So, I was a bit disappointed that there is very little focus on that.
This could be any American family story. Sure, there is a brief description of their time in Morocco and the adjustment period in America, but the story’s theme is essentially American. If the author had decided to make this a family of Italians or Mexicans, or African-American, nothing much would be detracted from the story. Yes, she touches on racism, the fear of the “other” hence the title of the book, 9-11, and the Iraq war make an appearance, but these are just on the surface – almost like filler? I don’t know how to put it.
It is telling that the Mexican in the book sounds so similar to the Moroccan, who also sounds so similar to the 3rd or 4th generation Americans in the story.
That said, the actual story is very good. I enjoyed the viewpoint of the multiple narrators, the story moves along briskly, there were some cleverly manipulated tearjerker moments.
Generally, this book was an all round pretty solid read, but it missed the mark a little for me.
