3 out of 4 stars
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The novel,Keys to Tetouan traces the history of the Benzimra clan since 1272 and through successive generations. It is authored by Mois Benarroch and it's his second book in the Tetouan Trilogy series. Its classified in the historical fiction genre.
The novel explores the themes of Jewish immigration and exile, Jewish culture and the significance of “our land”, namely Israel from the Jewish viewpoint.The author`s historical narrative is mainly drawn from the time the Jews were expelled from Spain in the 16th century. The focus is on the closest city to Spain located at the northern part of Morocco and twenty KM from Gibraltar called Tetouan. From the novel, and concerning the close proximity of Tetouan to Spain, the author, and with respect to the Jews, he says that "...that closeness hid a great distance inside, great distance between expectations and reality. The Jews always considered themselves Spanish that took a long trip away from home, and they will soon go back to their homes, to Granada, Seville, Toledo, Vinaros and Badalona..." Pg 48
Through a descriptive and persuasive writing style, and first person narration inform of a series of letters, the author takes us through the generational experiences and brief biographies of his kinsmen.
The story opens with the main character, Fernando Benzimra, receiving a letter from his recently deceased father. The contents of this letter, which later we come to learn is also a will, is the harbinger of surprising news for this only child and son to his father.Indeed, this turn of events is enough to make him look for and reach out to a cousin he barely knew hitherto, to whom he confides in the contents of the letter or "bomb" as he describes the letter to him.
Later, as the story unfolds, details of the parents' conspiracy emerge. Conversely,and as fate will have it, we learn that Fernando and his mother Marisol, who is also deceased, harboured their own "little" secret against the father.Needless to say this leaves Fernando disturbed hence his reaching out to his relative as earlier described. More is to come however, as the twist in author's narration doesn't end there.This is because there is something even more sinister bothering Fernando. For starters, his only child and son, John, from his first marriage, and who lives in Caracas with the mother, has been given over to "Avod zara", that is , foreign worship or idolatry. To cope with this, Fernando migrates to Jerusalem and enrolls in the "Yeshiva" (religious institution) and proceeds to take a second wife and even having three children with her.Meanwhile with his new found religious life, and with the help of his other cousin Shmuel, he embarks on praying and tormenting himself for the soul of his first son, just to make him come back. Will he succeed?
Inspite of its gripping and almost mystical narrative, the book needs a thorough and professional editing work. This is because it is beset with lengthy and poorly crafted sentences with frequent grammatical errors. This makes concentration and comprehension of this novel difficult. Just some examples;
- 1.Wrongly constructed phrase/ sentence
"that's not our problem anymore i don't know what will they do" Pg 45
"a school who was always going through financial difficulties" Pg52
2. Improper use of tense
"i didn't really won" Pg 51
3. Misspellings
"launch" instead of "lunch" Pg 59
4. Lack of punctuation/too wordy
"but why did i feel in exile when i was in Jerusalem" Pg 107
Secondly, as far as advocating the perceived injustices against the Sephatic Jews is concerned, and the whole of the Jewish diaspora in general, the author views himself as the "...lone voice calling in the desert and shouting voice on the mountain" Pg 39.
Additionally, he also handles other cultural issues touching on for example, the need for a Jew to marry a Jewish wife so that the "...father does not cut you off his inheritance" Pg 43.
Lastly he sees it quite strange in Jewish history, that they never rebelled against the "murder, slaughter, humiliation, exportation" even when they had "...the financial resources and sometimes the military capabilities..." Pg 112.
In conclusion, because of the above reasons among others, i found the novel insightful and eventful.Additionally, the book is powerful and deliberate, and puts across a synoptic evaluation of the Jewish culture and history and provides a refreshing look in understanding them from a bystander's and even adherent's point of view.
Consequently, i recommend the novel to anyone mature, interested in a good read, especially with the view of understanding other cultures and more specifically the Jewish history and way of life. Because of its poor editing, however, i deduct one star and give it a rating of a 3 out of 4.
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Keys to Tetouan
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