Following is a review of Desertion, a novel by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Anchor Books, NY, 2005.
This intriguing novel by a Zanzibari author relates several
interconnected stories that link three generations of families. The author provides great insight into the
mores and motivations of the Swahili society of the first part of the 20th
century, about what was proper, what was not and what was scandalous. Obviously tension in the novel relates to
where events and actions fell along that scale.
The first installment
takes place in a never named town that is obviously Malindi in the early years
of British colonialism. Pearce, an
exhausted European stumbles out of the bush and collapses. He is rescued by a Swahili
shopkeeper and nurtured by his sister Rehena before he is taken in by the imperious
British district officer. The latter
assumed that Pearce was victimized by the villagers, so treats them
harshly. Peace, however, wants to thank
them for their hospitality. Their fate
unfolds gently with great insight into conflicting values. The fact that Pearce
and Rehena ultimately become lovers scandalizes all communities.
The story picks up in Zanzibar in the next generation as a
family of two brothers and a sister ply their way through growing up. Rashid, the narrator of the novel, emerges as
himself, a studious, introspective intellectual. His brother Amin is a more
typical youth focused on sports and friends.
Sister Farida too was self contained and ultimately became a
businesswoman. The parents were
schoolteachers. They and their offspring wanted nothing more than the modest
success that they might achieve in the restricted colonial system and the
conservative Swahili society. Scandal
in this installment revolves around the love affair between Amin and Jamila, a
widow and the illegitimate daughter of Pearce and Rehena. Meanwhile colonialism comes to an end and
with the subsequent revolution Zanzibar is thrown into chaos as are the lives
of all concerned. Rashid, ignorant in
the ways of the world, goes off to London to university.
Desertion is an apt title because - perhaps like in life - no story comes to a happy ending. Someone always leaves. The constraints of
society and reality prevail, yet the characters are real and they struggle even
as their passion disrupts families around them.
I enjoyed this book. The writing has a lyrical quality to it
that aptly evokes the time and place.
The narrator muses about the characters that he well depicts, but does
not always understand.
