Family – Finding My Wings

‘The Fox Hunt’: Encounters with the “other”

The Fox Hunt by Mohammed Al Samawi (William Morrow) 2018
In 40 words or less: Mohammed Al Samawi’s curiosity and drive to create his own life brings him to question traditional Islamic teachings and work for NGOs in Yemen. His exploration brings international contacts in the interfaith and peace communities and endangers his life.
Genre: Memoir
Locale: Primarily Yemen
Time: 21st century
This memoir tells the story of meeting and learning about “the other,” those supposed enemies who may be far more like you than you’d imagine. It is a story of being open to learn about mistaken prejudices, and being willing to trust the good in others.

Mohammed Al Samawi was born in 1986 into a prominent Zaidi Shia family in Sana’a, Yemen, in the northern area of the country. His parents, both doctors, expected much from their children, including adherence to traditional Islamic law. A stroke left young Mohammed with lingering weakness on one side of his body. Kept from the games of the other children, Mohammed focused his attention on learning English and reading everything he could.

Through much of his teen years, Mohammed had little reason to question the Islamic teachings of his Shia community. Christians, Jews, and particularly Israel, were enemies of Islam. Southern Yemen, including the port of Aden, was dominated by the Sunnis, aligned with Saudi Arabia and the militant Muslim Brotherhood. The differences between the sects paled when dealing with infidels.

As a more modern, affluent and educated household, there was a computer and internet access in the Al Samawi home. Mohammed used this to explore the larger world, beyond his economics classes and became curious whether the teachings about Jews and Christians were really true. Mohammed sought out a job with an NGO rather than remaining a clerk in his father’s medical practice. This position provided his first opportunity to meet a Christian westerner on an ongoing basis. Wanting to learn more about both Christians and Jews, he went to the experts he could find – Google and Facebook.

The balance of the book is about the blossoming of Mohammed as a social activist, connecting to a network of people worldwide interested in Middle East understanding. Through his connections, he was invited to and attended conferences outside of Yemen, the only representative of his country. As civil war brewed within Yemen, these efforts endangered Mohammed’s life and threatened his family. In the hope of escaping before things worsened, he was sent to Aden, a city crumbling under lawlessness.

From the start, it is known that Mohammed made it to the U.S. But it is how he got to the U.S., who helped him and the lengths to which virtual strangers went to make it happen that is extraordinary. This is a book about the power individuals and social media can have to do good if so motivated. It also speaks to diplomats at all levels, in many countries, that go above and beyond to make things happen. There are many bad actors as well, thieves and partisans who act solely on ethnicity or family ties.

Mohammed names names in this book, from friends of friends to US senators and Indian diplomats. In the acknowledgments, he also mentions the person that assisted him in organizing this memoir and putting it to paper. At a time when selfishness and isolationism seem to be at a multi-decade height, this story is a reminder of what can happen when people are asked to do the impossible and get it done.

The Last Watchman of Old Cairo

The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas (Spiegel and Grau) March 2018
In 40 words or less: Mixing historical figures with a centuries-long fictional story, Lukas brings to life the centuries-long intertwining of the Muslim and Jewish communities. In the modern thread, a graduate student heads to Cairo to learn more about the father he barely knew.
Genre: Historical fiction
Locale: Cairo, Egypt; Berkeley, CA; and England
Time: 11th/12th century to the end of the 20th century
The true story of centuries worth of documents discovered at the end of the 19th century is a centerpiece of the novel.

Until the middle of the 20th century, Jews and Muslims lived side by in Cairo as they had for almost a millennium. In the 1950’s, Egypt’s Jews were expelled, emigrating to Israel, France, and the United States. A Jewish girl and Muslim boy, childhood friends, were reunited briefly in Paris in 1973, separating again before they knew of her pregnancy. Their child, Joseph, was raised in the US, only visiting his Egyptian family during an occasional summer, and maintaining his ties with his father through stories his father would tell over the phone.

Joseph’s father was the last in the line of Al-Raqb men who had served as night watchmen at Ben Ezra synagogue for generations. While not of high status, this was a position of great trust. After his father’s death, Joseph received a box with a piece of paper in Arabic and Hebrew, suggesting that Joseph should travel to Cairo. Joseph takes a leave from his graduate studies to connect with his late father and the secret he wanted to share.

In the late 1890s, Scottish twin sister adventurers and amateur scholars, Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson, brought fragments of Hebrew texts to Rabbi Solomon Schechter, a researcher in England. An expedition was arranged for Schechter to evaluate and bring back material from the Geniza, the repository for Hebrew sacred writings that may be torn or otherwise discarded, in the Ben Ezra Synagogue. While Schechter was in Cairo, Agnes and Margaret paid a visit while en route to the Holy Land. They, too, were interested in acquiring documents. Michael David Lukas has made this on-site research project and interactions with prominent members of the Cairo Jewish and political communities a major storyline in the novel. Having previously read detailed accounts of this project, referenced by Lukas in notes about his research, this fact-based view into life in Cairo during this period is particularly intriguing.

Joseph’s visit with his family is not without some bumps. Culturally he is American through and through so there is the necessary adaptation to both pace and style. Additionally, Joseph is hesitant to reveal aspects of his life and plans to the family. Joseph is gay, and that plays a part, though doesn’t define the story.

When historical fiction is very successful it may entice the reader to explore periods or places in history that previously were unfamiliar. The Last Watchman of Old Cairo does this and much more. Joseph’s Cairo is not that of the Arab Spring. It speaks to a time shortly before, when the flavor of the city was still captured in families with centuries of history. And just as the last watchman has died off, so has the Old Cairo that was home to people of all the Abrahamic religions, living and working together.

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‘Memento Park’, a novel of lost and found

Memento Park by Mark Sarvas (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) March 2018
In 40 words or less: Matt Santos, a B-list actor, plays parts on screen and in his own life. A phone call suggesting he’s the rightful owner of a painting seized by the Nazis in 1944 raises questions about his identity, his family, and the choices he’s made.
Genre: Literary fiction
Locale: United States and Hungary
Time: Contemporary

Matt Santos seems to be living the Los Angeles dream. A regular role in a series. Living with his girlfriend Tracy, a model and activist working to free a death row inmate she believes wrongly convicted. Things are rarely what they seem. Matt isn’t really into the show and Tracy is spending a lot of time with a lawyer on the case. Out of the blue, a phone call from a New York law firm upends the delicate balance of their lives.

The lawyer insists that Matt may be the rightful owner of a painting wrongly transferred during WWII and now in the restitution process. Matt argues he knows nothing about it and is told his father has declined any claims in Matt’s favor. Matt has had a fractious relationship with his father and wants nothing to do with the painting or his father. Tracy has been the go-between for father and son, and a weekend visit cross country by Gabor does little to assuage the ill feelings.

With this as the background, Matt begins the search for the truth about the painting, its ownership, and the history of his family in Hungary during the war. The attorney provided Matt for this process is Rachel, a young woman from a traditional Jewish family, whose relationship with her father is in stark contrast to Matt’s. The richness of Rachel’s family life, despite their modest means, awakens a mix of curiosity and envy towards Judaism. The discovery the other possible owner of the painting is a woman rabbi further adds to the complexity.

In Memento Park Mark Sarvas has written several stories swirling around one another. The story of Matt the actor touches on the emptiness of a life built on good looks and mediocre acting skills. Matt’s research into the life of the (fictitious) artist provides his first look into the struggles of the years between the wars and the toll it took on individuals and Jews, in particular.

Throughout the novel, Matt’s ongoing yearning for his father’s approval/love and his conditioned response when disappointed is the real grabber. It is only through the larger quest surrounding the painting that Matt learns of the experiences that shaped his father’s childhood and made him such a difficult man. Coming to terms with it all is key to Matt reclaiming his life.

While the Holocaust and the infamous history behind the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial are critical to the novel, I wouldn’t characterize it as a part of that genre. This is a story of family and the secrets that color every aspect of life. Achieving this balance requires a delicate touch and Mark Sarvas has carried it off. The success of Memento Park is weaving together all the elements into cohesive work without straining credulity. The result is a novel with interesting plot twists that will provide book groups with ample material for discussion.

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Nature, nurture or fate? ‘The Immortalists’

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) January 2018; Penguin Audio, Maggie Hoffman – Narrator
In 40 words or less: Four young siblings, ages 9 – 13, seek out a fortune teller who predicts the date of each one’s death, unknown to the others. One by one, Benjamin reveals their lives, times, and choices, always with death at hand.
Genre: Literary fiction
Locale: Various, USA
Time: 1969 – 2010
Chloe Benjamin adeptly mixes iconic American locales with carefully selected elements of history and popular culture to tell a family story and ask the recurring question, “How would you live your life if you knew the number of your days?”

The Immortalists has haunted me for months. So appropriate for a novel created on the premise that knowledge, kept secret, may dictate the choices of one’s entire life.

Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon Gold are the children of Saul, a tailor, and Gertie, living on the Lower East Side in 1969. The children are second generation Jewish Americans, living in a community and world markedly different from their elders. Having heard rumors of a psychic, the four seek her out, and each is told the date of his/her death and that they must not share that information with anyone, ever.

One by one, Chloe Benjamin reveals each child’s path to adulthood. Though never discussed, this one afternoon is a burden that the four carry throughout their lives. In many ways, it is the secrets more than the information itself that color the relationships within the family and with those they touch.

It takes particular skill to craft a novel that balances the isolation and connection of a family from childhood. Chloe Benjamin uses carefully chose locales and time periods to reveal each personality and reflect the defining and oppressive nature of each person’s countdown clock.

In the news and in individual conversations, the devasting cost of keeping secrets is a common topic. As I turn over my continuing reaction to The Immortalists, I wonder how many choices in life are responses to secrets, overriding nature and nurture with fear.

This book is worthy of all the accolades it has received. I listened to the audiobook, and while I had small issues with the narrator’s voice choice for the mother, I was completely caught up from the first moment. It is the mark of a beautifully crafted novel when the reader wants to intervene in the lives of the characters. When the characters stay long after the final page, that’s a book that must be shared.

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Ginny Moon is no ordinary 14 year old girl

Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig (Park Row Books) 2017
In 40 words or less: Day by day, Ginny reveals the challenges of an autistic teen trying to become a part of a Forever Family after years in foster care. It’s far from easy and her loyalties and her past stand in the way.
Genre: Fiction
Locale: United States
Time: Contemporary
Benjamin Ludwig brings first-hand experience to telling Ginny’s story as the adoptive parent of an autistic young woman. Seeing the story through Ginny’s eyes gives the reader a rare view into the daily life of a teen on the autistic spectrum and the demands placed on parents, teachers, and all involved in helping her navigate the world.

“I am standing in front of the refrigerator listening. I hear nothing. In the refrigerator there are grapes and milk. There are a lot of other things too but grapes and milk are what I need. I need to have nine grapes to start my breakfast and a glass of human milk but it’s a rule that We do not open the refrigerator. And We ask for food when we’re hungry.“

Until she was nine, Ginny lived with her Birth Mother Gloria and Donald in an apartment. When Donald would get angry, Ginny would hide and take Baby Doll with her to be safe. And then the police came and took Ginny away, leaving Baby Doll in a suitcase under the bed. Ginny has been desperate to reunite with Baby Doll ever since.

Ginny is literal, methodical, persistent, and sometimes sneaky. Despite being forbidden to use the internet, she plots ways to search for Gloria so she can find Baby Doll. Being a teenager and someone who processes information differently, Ginny doesn’t always understand the repercussions of her actions. Dealing with the consequences of Ginny’s choices puts serious strains on her Forever Parents while they are also preparing for the birth of a baby.

A wonderful look into Ginny’s world is her involvement in Special Olympics basketball. Seeing the experience through Ginny’s eyes reveals the community involvement, the commitment of her Forever Dad, peer volunteer mentorship and the pride that comes from participating on a team.

I knew little about Ginny Moon before I dug into it. I had heard it was very different, and it is that. I found myself rooting for the Moon family, hoping that Ginny can find her place before her actions inflict damage beyond repair.

Ginny Moon is far more than an engaging novel. Ludwig is so careful and loving in “speaking” Ginny’s thoughts that a reader with little exposure to people on the autism spectrum can get a peek into that world. By including Ginny’s classmates and Special Olympics teammates he also points out that each person with disabilities or special needs is different, just like everyone else. In the same way people shouldn’t be pigeonholed, this book should be read for the unique creation it is.

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