So what kind of sandwich did you have?, Zimbabwe, she said. He passed them, one by one. Turadup are offering free housing, a car allowance, paid utilities, yearly leave ticket, school feesthough of course, That would be plain greedy, she said, having children so that you could get their school fees paid., Pollard did say He looked at her in slight anxiety. When he arrived home late that afternoon, Frances was on the porch packing a tea chest, wrapping up their dinner service in pieces of the. She had been round and about southern Africa for five years, in regions where, by and large, the possibilities of corruption had not been fully explored. I thought we would, but its not worked out. Hes going to manage their Jeddah business; hes had experience out there, of course., So you mean youll be working with him?, I hope we dont end up living near him as well., They do pay for your housing, so its probably a case of taking what youre given., Thats fine, she said, but just try to ensure that what were given doesnt include Pollard. Christmas and Easter, the wives fly out., They cant stick it. Ive been to Lusaka, done a couple of stopovers. . So an independent, young married couple move to Saudi in order for th. : Mantel's ability to recreate the setting of the Kingdom in that time left me breathless. I shall try to like it. Basically, the idea is that a British woman follows her husband to Saudi Arabia for a contracting job he gets, and then slowly goes crazy stuck in the apartment alone. ready to love season 1 cast member dies; kudzu starch replacement; cassidy rainwater crime scene photos; Are we to believe that this letter refers to the death of Frances and her husband AFTER the novel is over? Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. Mantel describes the difficulties of being a women in Saudi, not just being able to carry along with 'normal' activities but actually almost becoming invisible and irrelevant in society. Parts of the book might be considered racist today, but then I guess that was how people were in the '80s. I take sugar, in coffee., Its true, there were a lot of shortages.. Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2014. It must be your first trip. No Import Fees Deposit & $9.95 Shipping to Germany. But Frances knows otherwise, and day by day, her sense of foreboding grows even as her sense of herself begins to disintegrate. It was quite common though. See guidelines for writing about novels. Two to get you started? Hand hovering over the trolley, he seemed to approve her choice; as if what lay ahead were something to brace yourself for, not to celebrate. He peered into his empty ice bucket. Were relinquishing this route next year, he said. More coffee? She shook her head. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET Copyright 1988 by Hilary Mantel. Eight months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel. Ive not been out that way for a while. Nurse, are you? he inquired. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street. Your salary is paid in riyals, tax-free. I wouldnt have missed it., I expect youll find your Saudi lifestyle very different., He was hovering, waiting to tell her some horror stories. But I suppose they have their rules. She had come to Africa at her own behest, a single woman, one of the few recruited for her line of work. Publication date 1997 Topics British -- Saudi Arabia -- Fiction, Apartment houses -- Fiction, Jiddah (Saudi Arabia) -- Fiction Publisher Henry Holt Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks; china Digitizing sponsor Kahle/Austin Foundation Contributor No, not really, she said. But Parsons isnt like that., Yes, youd know the one. And they look at your books. The personal restrictions they live under and the professional tangles they encounter are based on reality but the plot is rather melodramatic. Noon is movable, you see. But since the early 1970s the Middle East had been what they called their major theater of operations. , Picador; First edition (September 1, 2003), Language Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. Andrew had never been communicative, so it had been necessary to notice these things. I can hardly believe Im finished in Africa, he said. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime. witnesses plural possessive; soccer player haircut; Wednesday, 2 December 2020. Reprinted by permission. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street. No, Im sure. She jerked out of her doze; shed not realized, at first, that he was speaking to her. Seconds later he was speaking to Eric Parsons, at his hotel. See all 7 questions about Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Goodreads' Top Reviewers Pick the 'It' Book of Summer. ASIN But in the dim, airless flat, Frances spends lonely days writing in her diary, hearing the sounds of sobs through the pipes from the floor above, and seeing the flitting shadows of men on the stairwell. ('and there's even a sequel). We used to go up to Gaborone for a bit of excitement., You poor things, thats all I can say. She believed him, but did not feel herself a better person for the belief. This novel, by the same author who recently won the Man Booker Prize, details the tension-filled life on a British woman who moves to Jeddah, Saudia Arabia with her husband. Andrews letters had been short, practical. Hillary has captured in minute details all the challenges faced by a a British expat on her first outing in Saudi Arabia, the most extreme face of fundamental Islam. And I would suggest that the same can be applied to Arabs expats settled in UK. This friend of mine went into a pharmacy for a drop of penicillin, he was planning, you know, on being a bit naughty that night, and he believed in dosing himself first; and he came out, and no bloody wheels.. Gazelles are hunted from the backs of pickup trucks. Sharp, clear-sighted and rather chilling observations on how the pressure to conform (at all costs) within a totalitarian, misogynist and racist society like Saudi Arabia does affect the psyche. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET By Hilary Mantel. I cannot understand why Mantel created her story around such an unpleasant woman. : The black tents of the Bedu have been replaced by aluminium shacks. Yes. He had a boring job, she supposed, and a right to peoples life stories. Give it to British Caledonian and welcome, thats what I say. Hilary Mantel has done far better with her excellent trilogy about Thomas Cromwell than in this novel. When Frances Shore moves to Saudi Arabia, she settles in a nondescript sublet, sure that common sense and an open mind will serve her well with her Muslim neighbors. Although it takes place several decades ago, it reads as if it were happening today. As in UK, Arab expats or immigrants are intrusive and nosy, so the story is actually about Western expats in Arab countries. It was the Carlton, he noted; Turadup did not penny-pinch. He had an unsparing fund of anecdote, a knowing, dirty laugh; a British passport, and a vaguely Australian accent. All this she knew from her reading, because after the romantic travelers tales came. Click here for the lowest price! The reader should give it a chance, since at first, it may seem a bore, with the dwelling on the the in. Hes a shareholder. You work?, Oh well, youre redundant. We havent made any here. much less easy to say what, in a month's time, you will have become. If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. You cant lose by it.. That was why I bought this book. It's the subtleties of the conversations that the reader should pay attention to, since they hold the key to the subsequent tragedies. May 1st 2004 She hears whispers, sounds of distress from the 'empty' flat above her head. Im just relieved I didnt meet anyone like her when I was there! Youre a woman, arent you? Frances, his wife, is a cartographer who goes with him but is not, as a woman, allowed to work there. I had adored the other Hilary Mantel books that I read, so I wanted to try her earlier stuff. But then, it could not be her dead body that Fairfax saw carried downstairs, since Yasmin was alive the next day (Francis saw her in the car in the traffic jam). He couldnt take the hassle., Youve not got any art books, have you? And one of those nice plastic glasses, Frances Shore said. Thats his job, picking up strange people., But youre a woman, the steward said. It was strange how it had stuck in peoples minds, considering how little they usually remembered of what they read in the newspapers: young north-country girl, a nurse, found dead after an all-night party; nurses father, dogged ex-policeman, off out there to get at the truth. Welcome back. She imagined herself already in Saudi, a discreet teetotal housewife, homesick for this place that was not home in another place that was not home. And it's well written, I guess. Onward. FRAGILE. This is a book in which literally nothing happens. This, in due course, Parsons did. Didnt anybody tell you that? Already it felt further; watches moved on, a day in a life condensed to a scramble at a check-in desk, a walk to a departure gate; a day cut short and eclipsed, hurtling on into advancing night. Drifting, she caught bits of their conversation: jargon, catchphrases. She picked up the half cup of coffee: black, and almost cold now. He moved away again. Take it from me, its a funny place, Jeddah. This book begins with a memo from an administrator of the company the protag's husband is working for. It's not clear to the reader, and it's not clear to Frances. "A Borrowed Life: A Novel" by Kerry Anne King for $8.99, A bold, searingly honest and uncompromising novel. , twice won the Booker Prize, for her best-selling novel. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street Hilary Mantel, Author Holt McDougal $13 (288p) ISBN 978--8050-5203-9. But we cant go togetherI have to be in the Kingdom before theyll grant you a visa. eight months on ghazzah street ending. Hilary Mantel was the bestselling author of many novels including. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street is the story of Frances Shore, a woman with a professional career as a cartographer who joins the expat community in Jeddah when her husband's work in the construction industry takes them to Saudi Arabia. I would not be surprised if Mantel was paid to write this, because there is literally no story here, just non-stop nauseating Saudi-bas. You could never plan on being anywhere by a set time., And there was never any sugar. We could be in and out within three years, he said. The reader should give it a chance, since at first, it may seem a bore, with the dwelling on the the interior lives of the women at the house on Ghazzah Street. I was completely drawn in by her story and everything that happens to her as she attempts to adapt to life in Saudia Arabia. Got a husband out there?, Quick work, the steward said. They treat him like some bit of a kid.. You cant lose by it., The details were fixed up, at the President Hotel this time (there being, in Gaborone, a choice of two) over a tough T-bone steak and a glass of Lion lager. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. Andrew, a civil engineer, is there to make a lot of money by working on the construction of a new Ministry Building. I have never read anything that so accurately describes the insidious fear that is ever-present, or the dreaded boredom, depression and loss of self-respect that come from living in the Kingdom. They were a direct connection on the string of dorps that ran across the Transvaal and over the frontier; the day would come soon when they would feel like a suburb. Another brandy?, Keep the young lady sober, the businessman advised. It seemed such a small thing, obtaining a visa for one unimportant woman to join her unimportant husband, but she had once been assured, by a man called Jeff Pollard, who understood these things, that when corruption took root in a country it spread in no time at all from monarchs to tea boys, from ministers to filing clerks. Her alienation and lack of understanding from a busy distracted husband, drive Frances to the brink of madness before the mystery is solved, and even after it is, you are left wondering if any liberated Western woman can survive such an experience with her sensibilities intact. But its SUCH an uncomfortable read. They go through everything, he told her. Shes embittered and antagonistic and has no intention of assimilating into life in Saudi Arabia. At what price to our treasured freedoms? . They are imported from South Africa, which makes any number of kinds of cheese, but they only import two; they realize that people must have cheese, but to have too much of it might seem to condone apartheid. It's a great read. Would be better as a novel or short story, Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2014. It tells the story of an Englishwoman, Frances Shore, who moves to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to live with her husband, an engineer. eight months on ghazzah street ending. However, the writing is superb, in the way that it describes the oppressive heat and stultifying boredom of life for an ex-patriot wife in a regime that she just cannot begin to comprehend. Wed love your help. They had sanctions., Well, I take your word for it. Based on Mantel's own experiences in Saudi Arabia,[1] the novel explores different peoples' struggles with the contrast in cultures, including those of people of different Islamic cultures, and misunderstandings between the Saudis and Westerners, as well as between women and men. Ive been to Botswana, the Holiday Inn, Gaborone. His wifes called Daphne., And did he show you a photograph of her?, Perhaps he thought it would overexcite you., When he asks you what you want to drink, he says, Name your poison., Melbourne, I think. My husband, our two young sons and I lived in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 1991, almost the same time-frame as Hillary Mantel lived in Jeddah on the western side. Jeff Pollard. Andrew thought that, once, someone might have offered him a bribe; but through the other partys ineptitude and poor English, and Andrews naivete, the occasion had passed without profit. Youre with me?, Never mind. We, he indicated his cohorts, are stopping at the Marriot. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street: A Novel by Hilary Mantel. I must like it, she thought. What was Jeff Pollard doing, recruiting you? With the advent of the blacktop road across the South African border, life had changed for the worse, their severe small-town isolation ended, the single street full of new faces. This was my first Hilary Mantel novel, and most probably my last. Learn more. , Publisher , Dimensions Basically, the idea is that a British woman follows her husband to Saudi Arabia for a contracting job he gets, and then slowly goes crazy stuck in the apartment alone. the book starts tackling some of the most important issues of debate for our modern times: religion and how fundamentalism works, the place of woman in society, relations between the West and the East, foreign policies and the Gulf States.the list goes on. This is a very interesting, entertaining, and even gripping, novel about life for an English expat in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, that eventually turns into a complex murder mystery. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Not the stuff that appears on the BBC as a drama on a Sunday evening but actually reading the books. Narrated by: Sandra Duncan. Andrew first poured himself a brandy; then he sat for some time and regarded the phone in their bungalow, like a man in a trance, or a man praying. I suppose the staff are having prayers. Of course, Im not sure if they let them out nowadays. Because they can be very funny about art.. A great read - dark, claustrophobic and immersive. Definitely recommended! Much less easy to make a single positive prediction even for the coming week; much less easy to say what, in a months time, you will have become. Nondairy creamer, madam?, I always wonder about this stuff, she said, accepting the foil packet. English writer Hilary Mantel lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for four years in the 1980s. Do you think theyll all be like him?, Hes a type. I make large claims for myself, she thought. Unfortunately, the others haven't measured up. But since the early 1970s the Middle East had been what they called their major theater of operations. I can hardly believe Im finished in Africa, he said. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. He was a man of thirty-five, unmarried, with a loose and dusty appearance and shifting eyes; he had a gray-white skin, but the back of his neck was at all times mysteriously and painfully sunburned. A cartographer by profession, she really has no hope of working while living in the Kingdom. Will we ever free ourselves of the need for their oil? The fear, the heresy, the crazy rummers, I felt them and in the process getting a fantastic exposure to the Saudi expat life in 1985. Audiobook 10 hours Eight Months on Ghazzah Street Show full title Written by Hilary Mantel Narrated by Sandra Duncan 3 / 5 ( 103 ratings ) Hilary Mantel - 9781474296502 . Id have to go around with a headscarf on all day. There were always stories out of the Middle East, and no doubt Jeff Pollard would have told her some, if he had not been so anxious to recruit Andrew for his building project. I suspect that most of the women I know would chafe at life in Saudi Arabia, even now when the western media is trumpeting reforms that allow women to travel, divorce, and The conclusion to The Wolf Hall Trilogy, The Mirror & the Light, was published in 2020. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street: A Novel Paperback - September 1, 2003 by Hilary Mantel (Author) 368 ratings 3.6 on Goodreads 2,594 ratings Kindle $11.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover $70.17 5 Used from $66.17 Paperback $14.99 16 Used from $6.10 13 New from $13.37 Audio CD $19.46 2 New from $19.46 Read Hilary's fantastic Wolf Hall, Bringing Up the Bodies, Beyond Black by Ms Mantel, but steer clear of Ghazzah Street unless you are a masochist. Finally, the western world and its relationship to the Arab world, and specifically Saudi Arabia was not remotely the same in 1987 as it is 2012, so is it even fair to really judge the book with a 2012 perspective? Two sons at medical school, showed me their photographs. The only reason I can see for this book's existence is an agenda to bash Saudi Arabia and reinforce Western stereotypes. Hillary has captured in minute details all the challenges fa. Shes got the customs to face, and its her first time. [2] Mantel felt the book anticipated later developments in the culture clash between Islam and the West: "I felt a bit frustrated because as events developed, I had a sort of I-told-you-so feeling. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. This is a fabulous book, especially for those who have lived there. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street A Novel. At least, Im glad I went there. Theyre in a hurry., So you wont even be coming to England first?, Well listen, Fran, we wont be apart for long. Its called the golden handcuffs., But what would happen I mean, what would be so awful if they did meet up? Why, it would be like the West, Samira said. Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts. Yes, I did it, its all fixed. autious sorts who suspect that it's a bad idea to venture beyond one's own garden gate will find their prudence amply confirmed by ''Eight. When everyone is so negative about a place you begin to suspect it must have some virtues after all. Well, did you do it? she said. At home, at her widowed mothers house in York, she had been reading books about her destination. [It is a great book with a gripping plot, but could anyone PLEASE explain to me who killed whom eventually? When the Shores were leaving Africa there had been a lot of people like Jeff around, doing their recruiting in golf-club bars. She hears whispers, sounds of distress from the 'empty' flat above her head. Sorry if this review is something of a "spoiler", but the real meat of the book is in it's creepy gathering menace. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. He leaned over her seat. Andrew bit his lip. There is a mystery, a shadowy bit of skulduggery that gathers force toward the end, but the impact of the book is not in this artifice but in the portrayal of life in Saudi Arabia based on the author's own experience of living there. : They could have sent out for some., Look, Frances said, there are two kinds of cheese in Botswana, cheddar and sweetmilk. Something went wrong. But he never went for them. You have to cut the labels out. , ISBN-13 It's also a bit like a soap opera, in that some affairs are revealed in the course of the novel, with the inevitable ongoing discussions of why they occurred, what could happen in Saudi Arabia if they come to light, etc. Flimsy cushions flatten under head and back. His patience was not like other peoples, a rather feeble virtue, which had, by its nature, to be its own reward; it was a virtue like a strong magnet, which drew solutions to problems. All rights reserved. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Long before Hilary Mantel became famous for her acclaimed Booker Prize historical novels, I knew her as an author of novels like Beyond Black (2006) with its dark humour and macabre undertones. The details were fixed up, at the President Hotel this time (there being, in Gaborone, a choice of two) over a tough T-bone steak and a glass of Lion lager. Also upstairs is a strangely active "empty" apartment which offers the mystery of the story. His voice on the phone had been hesitant. eight months on ghazzah street endingplaskett creek first come, first serve. She opens as many questions as she answers, leads the reader to think and consider what really is/was happening to the characters such that the end merely makes you think more (if you see what I mean?). No Place For A WomanOr For A Man Either, Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2004. Theyre always building, you see, money no object, but they dont think ahead. This is such a weird bookI don't know what to think about this, almost a month after I finished it. How pleased I will be, to do it; and to be there, at last. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Sit by the pool, play the fruit machines, bugger all else to do. He paused, the tirade halted by a scruple of politeness. She was apprehensive, yes. Having lived in Saudi Arabia, I was excited to read this book and 'compare notes' with Mantel. : Those seated on the left-hand side of the aircraft will see below you the lights of Jeddah Kindly fasten kindly extinguish (And to the right, blackness, tilting, and a glow of red, the slow fires that seem to ring cities at night.) Given that this is the novel she was inspired to write, it was far from a pleasant sojourn. As a reader I was felt as if I was with the couple, living their daily travails and tribulations. The press reports had left an image in peoples minds: of lazy, glitzy, transient lives, of hard liquor and easy money, of amoral people turned scared and sour. See more Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mante. Oh, they said he could have them back, when the customs had had a careful look. All the more disappointed because I had high hopes for this book. ZzzzzzzzzzIf you want to know how dreadfully stultifying life would have been for an expat wife in Jeddah in the 80s, read the first 60 or 70 pages of this book. This was the beginning; an hour or so out from Heathrow. I thought if youd been a nurse we could have had dinner. I dont think so. They had already eaten; dinner, she supposed. By: Hilary Mantel. Id like to witness a large gin. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. Hilary Mantel was the bestselling author of many novels including, They always say, well just do another year. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (1988) is the third novel by English author Dame Hilary Mantel, who won the Man Booker Prize in 2009 and 2012. The authorities will never publicise what happened, and any sensible foreigner who happens to have information will keep his or her mouth well shut. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price. Read 340 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. This novel, by the same author who recently won the Man Booker Prize, details the tension-filled life on a British woman who moves to Jeddah, Saudia Arabia with her husband. GABORONELONDON. Disappointing from such a talented writer,albeit penned much earlier in her career. Eight hazy, ominous, listless months, these. SHORE. At the same time, Mantel has never shied away from creating unsympathetic or nasty main characters, so maybe she meant for the reader to come away thinking that the main character was pretty racist? I really think we ought, Andrew said. There was no sensation of movement, no intimation that they were in flight. The city of Jeddah is steeped in darkness and changes too often to be caught on paper, while as a Western woman in this culture, she is both objectified a. Tense and unnerving, punctured with moments that seem blackly comic until you remember that this is a depiction of a real place and time and not a dystopian parody, this novel reads like a cross between travel writing and psychological thriller. There was a problem loading your book clubs. September 1984 . Eight Months on Ghazzah Street A Novel Author: Hilary Mantel Read Excerpt About This Book When Frances Shore moves to Saudi Arabia, she settles in a nondescript sublet, sure that common sense and an open mind will serve her well with her Muslim neighbors. Lets celebrate.. It certainly wasn't a great advert for Jeddah! She added, to herself, a friend of yours., Its all unlikely. Well, did you do it? she said. He said, I have witnessed the biggest transportation of ready-mixed concrete in the history of the human race. This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. We have to get something behind us.. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. Not in my experience. Or hold it back. I ask you. Across the aisle grown men were getting drunk on Cointreau. Were late, said the man across the aisle. The characters are not developed sufficiently. This book is pure dynamite. Could the man be right, she wondered, had someone been bribed on her behalf? A young English woman, Frances, follows her English husband to Saudi Arabia where he works for an international company. We have the perceptive eye and ear of the narrator to give us all the detail we need to create a mental picture of the events. Theyll take the wheels off your hire-car as soon as look at you. She must, he said, see for herself. A map would be out of date as soon as it was made. This was written 25 years ago, so its really early. And I could take a taxi., You cant take a taxi. The main character becomes sort of obsessed with what she perceives as the misogyny and general backwardness/ilogicalness of SA society and it all ends up feeling super politically incorrect to the reader in 2012. The businessmen had done their talking earlier; passed sales charts to each other. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2018. Nobody knows the half of what goes on. Hilary Mantel is one of Britains most accomplished, acclaimed and garlanded writers. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel - Audiobook | Scribd Enjoy millions of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more, with a free trial Only $11.99/month after trial. Hilary Mantel. Take those funny baskets as well, the ones that fall over., She began to wrap the candlestick, rolling it in her hands. You never call the police about anything because you might end up in jail yourself. As her days empty of certainty and purpose, her life becomes a blank -- waiting to be filled by violence and disaster. I thought she drew a similar picture of the hidden and inexplicable business environment faced by the men in the story who were trying to establish working relationships and accomplish a project. eight months on ghazzah street ending. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. By HILARY MANTEL Henry Holt and Company. What, really not?, Its bad news, a man picking up a strange woman in a car. Ok, so I'll be honest up front - I absolutely love Hilary Mantel and it's her books I love. Ive got numbers to ring, in case anything goes wrong. She crossed out LONDON, wrote JEDDAH. Based on Mantel's own experiences in Saudi Arabia, it points out, prophetically and way ahead of it's time, the stark differences between Islamic and Western culture.
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