30 Jun / The Almond: The Sexual Awakening of a Muslim Woman by Nedjma, translated by C. Jane Hunter [in AsianWeek]
Published under a pseudonym because of its autobiographical nature, this hoping-to-be controversial novel recounts the erotic maturation of a young Muslim woman. She’s married off at 17 to an older man who brutalizes her under familial pressure to beget a son. She escapes, seeking refuge with an aunt-by-marriage and becomes the mistress of a society doctor. Touted as a Muslim Vagina Monologues about a woman’s sexual independence, the protagonist ultimately trades one man’s physical brutality for another man’s emotional (and sexual) manipulation. Where’s the liberation in that?
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, June 30, 2005
Readers: Adult
Published: 2005 (United States)
By in Adult Readers, African, European, Fiction, Repost, Translation
Tags > Almond, AsianWeek, BookDragon, C. Jane Hunter, Coming-of-age, Gender inequity, Identity, Love, Nedjma