Ill tell you what he said exactly.. Not the stuff that appears on the BBC as a drama on a Sunday evening but actually reading the books. It tells the story of an Englishwoman, Frances Shore, who moves to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to live with her husband, an engineer. Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts. 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. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street centers on the Shores -- Andrew, an engineer And one of those nice plastic glasses, Frances Shore said. players, roofs, garden features, structural engineering, structural system, construction, floors, office equipment, furniture, forestry, masculine given names, thought, locomotion (biological), parts of a theatre, A cartographer by profession, she really has no hope of working while living in the Kingdom. I couldn't resist and stole this from my friend Beth's bookshelf and am so glad I did! We, he indicated his cohorts, are stopping at the Marriot. They told her to bring flat sandals, British postage stamps, a bottle of Bovril. , ISBN-13 As in UK, Arab expats or immigrants are intrusive and nosy, so the story is actually about Western expats in Arab countries. , Item Weight Its not a page-turner. Anyway, he seems very enthusiastic about this building. A touch on her arm woke her. Eight Months On Ghazzah Street type Book genre Fiction Thirtyish cartographer Frances Shore knew that "women's decisions did not operate" in fundamentalist Islamic Saudi Arabia, where she. There is no way Westerners can condone the backwards-seeming attitudes, but we do - in order to avail ourselves of Saudi riches. 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. Focalised via Frances, the wife of an ex-pat British engineer, this manages to make life in the Kingdom appear alien and troubling without recourse to any kind of unscrutinised Western cultural superiority, at least not from Frances. : You check in, and Ill look after you, and he can come and find you in the morning., Oh, Im sure hell be there, she said. Andrew, a civil engineer, is there to make a lot of money by working on the construction of a new Ministry Building. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! 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. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. 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?). 14,99 . Across the road, the nations only cinema was showing a double bill: a kung fu drama, andMary Poppins. It had this drawing on the cover, a woman, you know. He gestured in the air, describing half circles. Good story, good ending,interesting characters. The UK building trade had slumped into what seemed chronic recession; they didnt know what they were going to do. It was very trying when they took your wheels off. The Saudia flights supposed to take off at twelve-thirty, but it never does. The author herself lived in Jeddah for four years under not dissimilar circumstances and so the extremely unappealing depiction of the city, its inhabi. much less easy to say what, in a month's time, you will have become. And now drew Jeff Pollard. 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. Let us know whats wrong with this preview of, Published Is this what you want?. His voice on the phone had been hesitant. 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. , Paperback . At what price to our treasured freedoms? Much of the novel speaks about the treatment of women, using a variety of examples -- Frances . So now when you were off to Jeddah, people said, Dont fall off any balconies, will you? It became monotonous. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. They had run into him once before, in Lusaka, and not liked him particularly; but now Pollard was offering a job, and Andrew needed one. Are we to believe that this letter refers to the death of Frances and her husband AFTER the novel is over? Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. It's not clear to the reader, and it's not clear to Frances. 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. This colleague of mine, when he was last in the Kingdom, he had his book of limericks confiscated. Theyre doubling my salary, he said flatly. I really think we ought, Andrew said. We could be in and out within three years, he said. He took it. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2021. Share | Add to Watchlist. The man with the tough mille-feuille stares at the dial of his watch, as if he could make the time go faster. Didnt anybody tell you that? Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. 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. To say she has culture shock is an understatement. The fear and suspicion of foul play experienced by the protagonist would have had me running for the airport as fast as I could go. As her days empty of certainty and purpose, her life becomes a blank -- waiting to be filled by violence and disaster. Andrew had never been communicative, so it had been necessary to notice these things. This book is pure dynamite. Frances Shore used to be a cartographer, but in her new life maps have as little value as she does. Hillary has very successfully managed to expose the many frictions between Islam and the West in this unique and captivating novel. It even shows the differences between Saudi Arabia and other Islamic cultures. Her observations and interpretations of what goes on in the Kindgom are heart-stoppingly vivid, and for that reason, she gets four stars from me. No Import Fees Deposit & $9.95 Shipping to Germany. eight months on ghazzah street ending1990 donruss baseball cards errors. If you like that sort of thing. He turned away, back to his companion. [It is a great book with a gripping plot, but could anyone PLEASE explain to me who killed whom eventually? Ive been to Botswana, the Holiday Inn, Gaborone. She dozed. Learn more about the program. Infrastructure was a word she had heard on Andrews lips; he had grown fond of it. "Eight Months on Ghazzah Street is a tautly written tale of suspense that makes brilliant use of monotony and claustrophobia to heighten the heroine's growing . You cant lose by it.. Nobody knows the half of what goes on. Click here for the lowest price! And it's well written, I guess. This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. The operator came back once or twice, bellowing in his ear, but she didnt forget him entirely; in time she came up with what might be her best offer, a line to Mafeking. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. There is no plot. He made a leap of faith: it will be all right, I know it will. Frances closed her eyes again. Besides, the streets are never in the same place for more than a few weeks together., Certainly do. We have enough development of the characters to allow empathy or luck thereof, dependingThere is a plot so entwined with the character development that it has you gripped by the throat, you are convinced these characters are real, these events are real, this actually happened to a person. Why, really, should she share his vision of their future? This book creeps up on you. 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. 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. Another pang stabbed her, as sharp as the first. Drifting, she caught bits of their conversation: jargon, catchphrases. 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. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. As in UK, Arab expats or immigrants are intrusive and nosy, so the story is actually about Western expats in Arab countries. I thought it would be interesting to follow the author on her discoveries through living in Saudi Arabia understanding that this was a work of fiction. All you need out of it is your day-to-day living expenses and you can bank the rest where you like, in any currency you like. Back in the 80s Id hear of Brits working on Saudi for much more money. Youre not a person anymore. Doggedly, courteously, as if their conversation had never occurred, he reached for a glass from his trolley: Would you like champagne?, Soon, the crackle from the PA system: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning our descent to King Abdul Aziz International Airport. I'd take health", "Hilary Mantel's Tales of English Abroad", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eight_Months_on_Ghazzah_Street&oldid=1083534691, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 April 2022, at 09:19. The steward relented. Get help and learn more about the design. It would have meant another expensive silence, because he did not deal in that sort of question. 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. 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. : I want to.. Since the European Development Fund had decided to finance the building of the blacktop road, he had been in and out of southern Africa, weighing up prospects and buying people drinks. Despite her skepticism, her better knowledge, their contrived images lingered in her mind: black tents at sunset, the call of the muezzin in clear desert air, the tang of cardamom, the burnish of sharp-snouted coffeepots, the heat of the sand. This story of British expats in Saudi Arabia is meant to give the reader a glimpse of daily life for foreigners in the kingdom, but by now it may be a bit out of date (some things have changed, however small). I would not be surprised if Mantel was paid to write this, because there is literally no story here, just non-stop nauseating Saudi-bashing. 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. There seemed to be a party going on in the background. They treat him like some bit of a kid.. eight months on ghazzah street ending. Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2014. The story is modeled after "Turn of the Screw" by Henry James and, as such, leads to a suspenseful ending. 3.7 out of 5 stars. Andrew Shore shook hands with Eric Parsons, the Saudi man; Jeff Pollard, talking, conducted him down from the terrace and out into the street. They were cowboys, headhunters, entrepreneurs; anywhere they hung their hat was their domicile, for fiscal purposes. Were relinquishing this route next year, he said. I. May 1st 2004 Traffic is horrible, and if you are in an accident you better have enough cash on hand to bribe your way out trouble with the police. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. She had lived alone before they met; for three nights in succession, he had sat by himself, seemingly disconsolate, on a corner stool in the bar of an expatriate club, not even looking her way, but concentrating hard; until she had asked him to go home with her. English writer Hilary Mantel lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for four years in the 1980s. I wouldnt have missed it., I expect youll find your Saudi lifestyle very different., He was hovering, waiting to tell her some horror stories. You get them everywhere. But he never went for them. To see our price, add these items to your cart. Got a husband out there?, Quick work, the steward said. It happened that at the time when Andrew Shore was ready to move on, Turadups Saudi Arabian manager, a man called Eric Parsons, was in Johannesburg trawling for expertise. It was quite common though. They could have sent out for some., Look, Frances said, there are two kinds of cheese in Botswana, cheddar and sweetmilk. Given that this is the novel she was inspired to write, it was far from a pleasant sojourn. Please try again. So, this summer we turned to some of the top book Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, a maker of maps, but when her husband's work takes her to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map the Kingdom's areas of internal darkness. Something went wrong. eight months on ghazzah street endingplaskett creek first come, first serve. She'll manage a few months being a lazy of leisure. I went in the coffee shop and asked them for a toasted cheese sandwich, and do you know what they said?, But no cheese in the whole place? He peered into his empty ice bucket. Two sons at medical school, showed me their photographs. You cant tell me it wasnt a cover-up., You find a young girl dead outside a high-rise block, after a wild partyyou ask yourself, did she fall or was she pushed? [4], On the book's American publication in 1997, one reviewer described it as "a bold, searingly honest and uncompromising novel";[5] while another praised "Mantel's knack for leavening her weighty themes with seductive narrative strategies."[6]. Infrastructure was a word she had heard on Andrews lips; he had grown fond of it. Shunning the expatriate housing compound, the Shores move into a grim four-flat building on Ghazzah Street. But since the early 1970s the Middle East had been what they called their major theater of operations. SHORE. After I read "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies", which count among the best books I've ever read, I began to work my way through Hilary Mantel's other books. And I could take a taxi., You cant take a taxi. A guttural voice answered him in Afrikaans. Accompany her husband for a short period of work living in Saudi. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET "Would you like champagne?" This was the beginning; an hour or so out from Heathrow. This novel by the extraordinary two time Man Booker award winner Mantel tells a story in two different, well many different ways. Andrew stood in the dusty thoroughfare known as the Mall, gazing into the window of the President Hotels gift shop: crocodile handbags, skin rugs, complete bushmen kits with arrows and ostrich shells, direct from the small factory in Palapye which had recently started turning them out. Sit by the pool, play the fruit machines, bugger all else to do. He paused, the tirade halted by a scruple of politeness. And I had to re-read many sentences because they dont make any sense, and the style of sentence construction is irritating. Either that, or she's just the most narrow-minded woman of her time. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. I shall try to like it. Im going to join my husband. She filled in the details again, aware that she was more polite in the air than she was on the ground: the six years in Africa, and now Turadup, and the new Ministry building; aware too that as soon as she had said husband, the slight interest he had taken in her had faded completely. The streets are not a woman's territory; confined in h. Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, a maker of maps, but when her husband's work takes her to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map the Kingdom's areas of internal darkness. Things always start off as being relatively straight forward and obvious in the mind but the maze of thoughts and ideas that Mantel always seems to present takes you to a place that one could never have imagined at the start of the book. Shes got the customs to face, and its her first time. 3.5 stars. This is such a weird bookI don't know what to think about this, almost a month after I finished it. But then last year when he was coming back after his summer holidays they took away his Test Match videos. Trouble with Fairfax, hes got no credibility. It was the Carlton, he noted; Turadup did not penny-pinch. It was almost dark now; the air was cooling, the sun dipping behind the hill. He could hear women laughing, and what was perhaps crockery being smashed. Later, in the sagging double bed with which her government bungalow was furnished, he had lain awake while she slept, wishing furiously for her to act and understand; and although it had taken a little time to work, within a matter of weeks she had turned to him and said, We could get married if thats what you want., So perhaps, too, he should have wished her into suggesting Saudi Arabia; then she would have known it was her own decision. The only reason I can see for this book's existence is an agenda to bash Saudi Arabia and reinforce Western stereotypes. The streets are not a woman's territory; confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self begin to dissolve. Its after that Helen Smith business., It was a damn funny business, if you ask me. Not the stuff that appears on the BBC as a drama on a Sunday evening but actually reading the books. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Left alone, she closed her eyes. Hilary Mantel has done far better with her excellent trilogy about Thomas Cromwell than in this novel. It concerns a British couple in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street book. They told her to bring flat sandals, British postage stamps, a bottle of Bovril. FRAGILE. : 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. 3.7 (57 ratings) Try for $0.00. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. And women arent allowed to drive? But its SUCH an uncomfortable read. Jeff Pollard. No more to drink then? He prepared to abandon her, move away. Gentlemen, dont leave any miniatures down the seat pockets, please, we dont want our ground staff flogged. He looked down at Frances. silent hill downpour xbox 360 iso; washburn hb35 korean; eight months on ghazzah street ending Paperback, 9780312422899, 031242289X Frances, he said, we wont go unless you want to., She slotted a wrapped teacup into place. 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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. As I said, I didn't actually find this a pleasant read, but I did appreciate the very fine writing. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Having lived in Saudi Arabia, I was excited to read this book and 'compare notes' with Mantel. Sponsored . My favourite aspect of Hilary Mantel's writing is the way she renders the mundane into poetry through her lyrical turns of phrase - the description of the money-lenders' office, for example. What was Jeff Pollard doing, recruiting you? 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 conclusion to The Wolf Hall Trilogy, The Mirror & the Light, was published in 2020. There was no sensation of movement, no intimation that they were in flight. I couldn't resist and stole this from my friend Beth's bookshelf and am so glad I did! 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. AU $157.95 + AU $43.72 postage . Travel ends and routine begins and old habits which you thought you had left behind in one country catch up with you in the next, and old problems resurface, but if you are lucky you carry as part of your baggage the means of solving those problems and accommodating those habits, and you take with you an open mind, and discretion, and common sense; if you have those with you, you can manage anywhere.