Review by Kishor Rao -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch

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Kishor Rao
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Review by Kishor Rao -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch

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[Following is a volunteer review of "Keys to Tetouan" by Mois Benarroch.]
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1 out of 4 stars
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KEYS TO TETOUAN- REVIEW
-KISHOR RAO

For a person who doesn’t entirely know the difference between Christianity and Judaism, this book was a difficult read. I researched a lot about Tetouan; about the actual history of Tetouan because this book is placed under the category of historical fiction and I wanted to know the truth. I found very little information regarding the context on which this book is based.

Fernando Benzimra finds out in the death note of his father that he is a Jew and is originally from Tetuaon, a place worshipped by the Benzimra family and other Jews. Throughout the book he finds out about various people of his ‘supposed’ family and how they’ve spread out all over the world after the Spanish Inquisition in Tetouan. But they keep longing for the city and keep on returning to Tetouan in the quest of something or the other.

The author Mois Benarroch is from Tetouan himself and does a very good job convincing the readers the hardships the Jews had to go through under the rule of the Arabs and the Spaniards. The book goes on exploring the emotions of leaving homeland, abandoning one’s own religion and compelled to live like a totally different person from oneself. Even though the concept is very good and the emotions are brought out very well, the book treads water in making a point. The story line is very much convoluted and sometimes, it is like the author simply doesn’t want you to understand what he is trying to convey.

The most important trait which is seen in every chapter is the longing of the people to go back to Tetouan in spite of being forced to leave. After leaving Tetouan, they’ve achieved more than being suppressed and oppressed as was the case in Tetouan, but still they want to go back to their homeland and live out their lives in that place. The callousness of this trait though seems stupid in modern times is very promising and touching to read.

The end of a sentence in this book is nowhere to be seen just as the suffering of Jews in Tetouan. Words are simply joined with a hundred commas, sometimes totally unnecessary and the sentences are stretched out. By the time the reader reaches the end of the sentence, he is gladder it is over rather than reflecting upon what he read. The longest sentence according to me is more than two pages long.

The narrative becomes more and more messy and tiring to read as the book progresses. Every character in the book seems like having the same name. It is either Mimon or Moshe or Mois. The story goes to a different timeline every chapter with stories of people having the same name because every person inherits his name from his grandfather. After a few chapters you start to lose your mind classifying the names and story-lines which belong to different timelines.

There are a lot of typos and grammatical errors in the book. I don’t know whether they are intentionally kept like that as the characters are not supposed to know proper English. If that is not the case, it is just sloppy editing.

‘Keys to Tetouan’ has a promising start and hooks the reader to take in more of its rich history and stories conveyed through fictitious characters but fails to do that all the way till the end. Much to the dismay of the character of the old man in the book who is hell bent to make people not to forget about the history of Tetouan, I’m afraid the reader will forget even before he/she finishes the book.

I rate this book 1 out of 4 on account of all the reasons stated above. I don’t recommend this book unless the reader is from Tetouan or if the reader already knows everything about it for whom it will be a fun read. For most of the others it will be a history class you never intended to take.

HAPPY READING!

******
Keys to Tetouan
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Jackie Holycross
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Post by Jackie Holycross »

This seems to parallel the Native Americans who were forced to leave their homeland.
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