The Manuscript : A Short Story Rooted in Spanish History

Author Marie Ryan Connelly requested that I read and review The Manuscript which is a 53 page short story.  She made it available to me through Net Galley. I was able to read The Manuscript in a few hours and am now posting the review.

                                   

So there is a manuscript that is at the center of this story. It was written in the 1340's by Ibn al-Jatib.  He is an actual historical personage. For more information about him see this web page.  

In Conolly's short story, there are students who are reading Ibn al-Jatib's manuscript together.  When they reach the end of the manuscript, the story is finished. Where do we go from there? 

We'll need to know something about the history of the Nasrid Sultans who are the relatives of  Fátima , the story's protagonist.  Although this is a short story, beneath the tale's surface lies an extensive context that is rooted in centuries of Spanish history. The Nasrids ruled Granada from 1230 until 1492 when the last of the Nasrids was exiled to Fez in Morocco.

The Alhambra in Spain was built by the Nasrid Sultans.  That's historical.  Connelly's fictional story has al-Jatib's manuscript being found under the fountain in the Court of Lions at the Alhambra. This didn't happen, but below is the real location where it didn't happen. 

                                   

Now let's explore the mark of the tree on a person's neck which proves that someone is a Nasrid in Connelly's story.  Protagonist Fátima calls it a curse.  Why is it a curse? Why can't it be a blessing? It's all a matter of your worldview.  I see a tree as a thing of beauty.   I believe that someone born with a tree blooming on his or her body has been blessed.  For me, this was a key insight that gave me a deeper appreciation of  "The Manuscript".

Sometimes a story opens a door.  A reader can choose to go through that door, or close it behind them.  I  went through the door and what I found was rewarding.  I learned unexpected things.  You might also learn something from "The Manuscript by Marie Ryan Connelly.

                                      

  

 

 

                              

                                    

                                     

Crimson Angel: A Mystery Novel In Which A Free American Black Man Goes To Haiti in 1838

Crimson Angel is the 13th novel in the Benjamin January mystery series by Barbara Hambly.  Benjamin January is a free Black man in 19th century New Orleans.  I've read several of the books in these series, but it was before I joined Goodreads or started this blog.  So I have no record of them.  

The first thing you should know is that Crimson Angel  isn't primarily about solving the mystery. You do find out whodunit, but  it's more about the characters and their histories.

                               

                                 

Benjamin January ends up going to Spain, Cuba and Haiti not mainly to solve a murder, but to find out why people were following and harassing both him and his wife, Rose. 

I learned that at the time, some Cubans wanted Cuba to become part of the United States.  I thought that if Cuba today had the American medical system, they'd wish their ancestors had chosen differently.  It was the slaveholding plantation owners who wanted to become Americans.  They wanted to bond with their counterparts in the American South.  It occurred to me that this probably wouldn't have worked.  The Cuban plantation owners were Catholics.  There was and still is a great deal of intolerance against Catholics in the American South.

One of the characters was abusive toward his wife.  In addition to physical abuse, he took away her books because he said they gave her "bad ideas".  People often read books that confirm the ideas that they already had.  I suspect this was the case with the wife who was behaving more independently than her husband liked.  I don't think the books were the cause of her behavior. 

I found out  from Crimson Angel that there is a loa named Marinette who is a Petro spirit in Voodoo.  Although I am more acquainted with Rada spirits who are associated with healing, I see nothing wrong with Petro spirits.   (See my discussion of Rada and Petro  here .) In fact, Marinette is associated with the Haitian revolution and she is said to be able to free individuals from situations that they want to escape.  I discovered that there is a novel in which the loa Marinette is the main character.  I intend to read it some time next month.

 I liked Crimson Angel more after doing the research on Marinette than while I was reading it.  When I finished it, I thought it was a well-told tale, but discovering a loa that I hadn't known about gave this novel additional value.

                                   

Freedomville: Non-Fiction Account of A Rebel Slave Town in Current Day India

 Most people believe that slavery has disappeared from the modern world.  Yet debt slavery, which was common in the ancient world, still exists today.  The slaves are supposedly working off their debt, but they're never successful because the landlords find ways for them to accumulate more debt.  It's also often multi-generational because successive generations inherit the mountain of debt.  Debt slavery can be found in many countries, but Freedomville by anti-slavery activist Laura T. Murphy deals with a community of former slaves in 21st century India who freed themselves. 

                                      

                                      

Laura T. Murphy tells us in  Freedomville that she first encountered slavery in New Orleans where immigrants are currently being forced to rebuild the city after the massive destruction that took place during Hurricane Katrina.

 It was heartbreaking to learn how so many in India had been entrapped into modern slavery, but inspiring to discover a slave revolt that resulted in the formation of a community. In the 18th century the people of Haiti freed themselves from slavery and became a nation.  Azad Nagar, which is what the former slaves called their community, was on a much smaller scale but still represented a victory against oppression. Azad Nagar is in Uttar Pradesh.  Based on what Laura Murphy said, this is the Indian state that has the largest percentage of poor people.  She also tells us that almost a quarter of the world's slaves live in Uttar Pradesh.

Murphy reveals the history of the relationship between the Kols (the enslaved ethnic group in Uttar Pradesh) and the landlord caste in Freedomville, how the Kol revolt came about and the impact of the revolt on  the Kols.  The landlord caste was for the most part extremely ruthless, but that wasn't what was most noteworthy about the revolt.  The rebels also pooled their resources to purchase a mine lease, so they would have a source of income that would allow them to remain free.  Unfortunately, their lease ran out.  Not all of the revolt participants remained free.

I was  particularly impressed with Laura Murphy's comments about non-violence.  She said that non-violence is romanticized.  She adds that if the Kols were non-violent in the face of  the ruthlessness of the landlord that they revolted against, the Kols wouldn't have been able to survive.  So they couldn't remain consistently non-violent.  Murphy also pointed out that conditions in Azad Nagar were by no means ideal.  This caused all those who remained free to leave Azad Nagar eventually.  

I appreciate Laura Murphy's commitment to accuracy and realism.  If she had told us that Azad Nagar was a utopian community, I wouldn't have believed her.  So although Murphy had idealistic beliefs, she remained committed to giving us a genuine history of the revolt.  I respected Freedomville as a work of scholarship.  It gave me insight into the real conditions on the ground in Uttar Pradesh.  I thought that I understood both the Kols and the landlord class after reading it.

                                    

 

 

Embers: Reindeer Killings Among The Sami

 Embers is a first novel by Josephine Greenland.  I downloaded it from Net Galley.  It's a mystery that takes place amidst conflict between contemporary Swedes, and Sami reindeer herders who want to preserve their traditional way of life. 

                      

                           

 The young protagonists of Embers are Ellen and Simon.  It seemed to me that although Ellen was a good deal older than Simon, she seemed less definite in her opinions.  Simon, an autistic seven year old, was far more certain.  He was also very determined to find out who has been killing reindeer. 

 This investigative team were partly descended from Sami. The Sami are the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland.  Speaking of Lapland, my favorite book as a child was Lapland Outlaw by Arthur Catherall.  For me, this children's book was centrally significant, and I never forgot it.  I briefly discussed how I felt about Lapland Outlaw in this review. 

I often track down references to books in whatever I read.  The character Simon read a number of mysteries in a series by Martin Widmark.  I discovered that Widmark is a major author of children's fiction in Sweden.  

Author Josephine Greenland had mentioned "Levinians", but I have to say that this search term didn't lead to any useful results until I identified Levinians as a Lutheran sect.  Then I hit paydirt with Laestadian Lutheranism, and its founder 19th century Swedish Sami Lutheran clergyman Lars Levi Laestadius on Wikipedia. 

At one point in the narrative of Embers, Ellen and Simon talk about the nature of dreams.  Simon said that dreams aren't supernatural.  I actually do believe that dreams are supernatural, full of symbols and rich with meaning.  Sometimes a novel like Embers reminds me of the ideas that I consider foundational.   I feel well rewarded by such tales.

Attempts to end Sami reindeer herding have increased.  Embers reveals that the pressure to stop the Sami traditional way of life is due to resource extraction industries.   Any other land use is incompatible with mining.  Another important consideration is that unless the mining companies agree to restore the land after they've finished mining it, the land will be useless for any other purpose for quite some time.  This goes beyond the Sami losing their traditional lifestyle.  Swedes should realize that they are allowing the environment of Lapland to be wrecked by the extractive industries, and they will not be able to use that land either.

Another issue that is brought up is the exploitation of Thai agricultural workers in Sweden.  So the Sami aren't the only ones being mistreated in Sweden.  There probably aren't any laws protecting non-Swedes from exploitation. 

An individual who is identified as  responsible for crimes is portrayed sympathetically in this novel. I think that mysteries in which those who have committed crimes are portrayed in a complex manner are better written than the ones in which the perpetrators are portrayed as stereotypical villains.  I thought that Embers is a superior first novel.

 

                                        

  

A Rebellious Woman: The Life of a Civil War Southern Belle

 I think I'm getting back into the reading and reviewing frame of mind.  So I expect to be blogging more in August.  My first August review will be of a historical novel called A Rebellious Woman by  Claire J. Griffin

From a feminist perspective, the most important aspect of a woman rebel would be how her rebellion benefits that particular woman and/or women in general.  Was the protagonist of A Rebellious Woman  a positive example from a feminist standpoint?

                                 

                                                             

At the opening I was applauding Belle for her unconventional behavior.  She was multi-talented in areas that weren't considered ladylike and didn't feel the need to hide her abilities. Yet she wasn't some sort of paragon of political correctness from a 21st century standpoint.  She did have a slave, and wasn't an abolitionist.  On the other hand, she taught her slave how to read which was against the law in the 19th century South.  That was probably her most daring act.  

I understood Belle's actions in support of the Southern Confederacy without approving of them.  Belle was literally a Southern Belle, and her bedrock loyalty to her class turned out to be her most important trait. I wasn't enamored with Belle's desire to be famous.  It made her seem rather shallow and self-absorbed.  She also tended to have very poor judgement.  Over the course of the narrative I found her increasingly unsympathetic.  I didn't expect Belle to throw away her loyalties.  I just wanted her to have more common sense.