It is 1923, three Englishwomen, Millicent, Eva and Lizzie, start out on a bicycle journey in eastern Turkestan, skirting the Tien Shan Celestial Mountains, with Tibet directly south of them and Mongolia and China to the east. Their intent is missionary work, although for Eva the trip is more of a grand adventure, a release from her sedate life in England. But before they even get a proper start, they come upon a young woman about to deliver a baby. The baby survives but the young mother hemorrhages and dies, and the women are taken to Kashgar under house arrest.
Meanwhile in present day London, Tayeb, a Yemeni living illegally in England, and Frieda, a journalist who travels extensively in the Mideast, meet by chance and they become friends.
The novel switches between these two scenarios as the author richly and with lovely evocative scenes weaves their stories.
I especially liked the descriptions of life in the desert:
"I conveyed to Mr. Mah that I must sleep on an upright kang, not one down under the ground. I must have a proper meal and I must bathe Ai-Lien who, I noticed, had black ridges of dirt behind her ears and her hair was sticking to her head.....The village, like most Mohammedan towns, was surrounded with a protective wall. The gatekeepers were not friendly. Moreover, they were hostile, and I should have realized that it would be unwise to enter. Through one doorway I saw an elegant, long-stemmed blue iris...Back to the hovels and the road then; and what a turn in my mind, what a mix, with the sun taking off layer after layer of my skin...The wind blew constantly, raging my face and I kept Ai-Lein tight against me, wrapped in silk and cotton cloths..."
"Ai-Lien was wrapped up well and nestled in the bicycle basket...It was dusk as we left and the guards on the city gate blew their horns to announce the closing of the gates. Rami had conveyed to me that the Moslem army was gathering outside the mosque and an attack on the Chinese section of the town was imminent. She had given me a full abaya and with my face covered I gave the guards a coin from Rami's money and was allowed through quickly, although they saw my bicycle and obviously knew who I was."
The travels in Kashgar are a counterpoint to modern England and Frieda's life with her awakening senses and realizations about her lover, her parents, about Tayeb and her necessary involvement in a mysterious circumstance which she initially thinks is a mistake.
If you read fiction, this is worth it...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment