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Book Review
Feb. 1st, 2025 11:48 pmThe Stone Woman
by Tariq Ali
This is the third novel in the Islam Quintet. It is set in 1899 at the seaside summer residence of a wealthy and well-connected yet unconventional family of Iskender Pasha. Over the course of the summer they contemplate the decay of the Ottoman Empire, reveal old and new secrets, and resettle their lives. It is narrated by Nilofer, one of Iskender's two daughters, as she discovers the secrets of her parents' and siblings' lives while transforming her own.
The Stone Woman is a very quiet book focused on the characters and their relationships with each other. It explores the effect secrets have on a family, both in the keeping and the revealing of them. I think there's also a layer of metaphor regarding that part of Middle Eastern history, but I do not know enough about the late Ottoman Empire to have fully picked up on or understood it. The book is nonetheless quite enjoyable as the tale of a family at the twilight of their world.
by Tariq Ali
This is the third novel in the Islam Quintet. It is set in 1899 at the seaside summer residence of a wealthy and well-connected yet unconventional family of Iskender Pasha. Over the course of the summer they contemplate the decay of the Ottoman Empire, reveal old and new secrets, and resettle their lives. It is narrated by Nilofer, one of Iskender's two daughters, as she discovers the secrets of her parents' and siblings' lives while transforming her own.
The Stone Woman is a very quiet book focused on the characters and their relationships with each other. It explores the effect secrets have on a family, both in the keeping and the revealing of them. I think there's also a layer of metaphor regarding that part of Middle Eastern history, but I do not know enough about the late Ottoman Empire to have fully picked up on or understood it. The book is nonetheless quite enjoyable as the tale of a family at the twilight of their world.
