Book: That Other Me
By: Maha Gargash
Publisher: Harper Perennial (HarperCollin's)
Publication date: 26 January 2016
That Other Me by Emirati author Maha Gargash is a novel of beautiful prose handling
the lives of members in one Emirati family and the workings within that family.
It is a story of how very different women rebel against one man.
Set in Egypt
and the UAE in 1995, the novel covers various themes such as women, education,
love, family, duty, and entitlement.
It
is narrated in the first person perspectives of Majed, his daughter from a
secret marriage Dalal, and his niece Mariam. We get some history pertaining to
Majed and his brother Hareb, who is Mariam's father.
Majed
is an obnoxious character with many faults, constantly berating those around
him. I liked how Gargash enables the reader to see these faults through Majed's
speech and thoughts. We don't need to know what others think of him; we get to
do that for ourselves through him. The same method applies to Dalal, although
Mariam is aware of some her own faults.
Moreover,
each character has more than one fault, making the reader like and dislike each
and every character, except possibly Majed who is also a misogynist.
"I'd overpowered them. I'd broken them and
slashed their resolve."
There
is also the idea of Hareb's death. Mariam blames her uncle for her father's
stroke, whereas Majed constantly compares himself to his older brother. He tries
to highlight how the company is better under his management and how his
brother was too naïve. Mariam also struggles in silence because of this burden
of her father's death.
"[Adel] wants me to open up, but how can I with
all this self-blame, this guilt that runs as deep as the river to my side, as
thick as the silt at the bottom."
Both
Dalal and Mariam have some haughtiness when dealing with Egyptians; however, we
see that Dalal is a lot more like her father in terms of pride, condescension
and haughtiness.
Although
they are fairly good friends, the cousins are very different both in their
attitudes and their view of the world. Dalal may be younger but she understands
men and the world better than her older cousin.
Dalal
is mostly ignored by her father Majed, who divorced her mother and left them in
Egypt in the slums of Imbaba – as punishment. He also has several spies tailing
them to see what they're up to and thwart any plans to hurt the family name "Al-Naseemy".
"The spies my father sends to watch us – there are
two of them tonight – are caught off guard too. As mama breezes past them, one
is quick to pretend he is looking for some important item in his pocket, while
the other drops to the ground to tie his shoelaces, even though he is wearing
sandals. What a clumsy duo!"
There
was character development, whether good or bad, not only for the three main
characters, but for others as well. Readers will be surprised by some
transformations.
The
theme of entitlement is evident especially with Majed and Dalal, to the point
of irritation and scariness. Majed's selfishness and berating attitude is
constant throughout the novel, not only with his subordinates but also with his
wife, his children and Zohra, his secret wife. We see him mistreating everyone
and no one stands up to him except Zohra and later Dalal, who tries anything
and everything to defy him, and finally another character (no spoilers,
sorry!).
At
one point, Majed says he will change his ways and embark on a path of
righteousness; however, this endeavour is quickly tainted by his ulterior
motive to marry off his niece in order to get rid of her. He also considers the
wealth of her matches in order to acquire additional wealth for himself and his
business.
Although
Mariam is older than Dalal, she is less outgoing and extremely shy to the
extent that she can't summon the courage to say "good morning" to her
crush, Adel, which appears to be a childish and fantastical crush. Adel is a
minor character in the novel, but he helps Mariam – eventually – mature a bit
in her dreamy view of him and the world.
"Always, my courage drained like water down a
bathtub. I could almost hear the gurgle and slurp of it as my mouth turned
dry."
The
word choice and flow in That Other Me is simply beautiful. I enjoyed Gargash's writing A
LOT. The words just flowed on the page, prompting me to carry on. The switching
of viewpoints kept the novel interesting. You want to know what happens next.
I
liked how Gargash managed to maintain the time frame and background information
through the three perspectives. You do not feel lost. You also get to see each
character's observations regarding one particular event like Hareb's death or
Dalal's actions.
The novel also handles
the themes of parenthood and love (both family and romance). Dalal constantly
tries to earn the love and admiration of those around her, at first with her
father, then her mother then others.
"Clara had a sweet voice that often grew croaky
at the end of the day as she tended to my incessant needs. Whenever she felt a
tantrum brewing, she would burst into song at the top of her voice… One day my
father shouted at her, accusing her of scaring me. I liked that he did that. I thought
it showed his love for me."
With Zohra, Dalal's
mother, the reader begins to worry that the mother may not have her daughter's
best interest at heart, as seen when she tries to get quick fame for Dalal
while obviously trying to spite her ex-husband, Majed.
There
is also the theme of women and education. The story begins with Mariam, who is
under Majed's care, studying dentistry in Egypt. We get the views of other
women in her family regarding education. For the grandmother, Mama Al-Ouda, a
girl should only learn to read and write. Travelling abroad to be educated is not
natural and spoils a girl's mind.
We
see that one of the women on the side of Majed's wife, Aisha, is an independent
woman, a source of disgust and contempt for Majed.
"It was in the early 1980s that, after a couple
of years of marriage, she divorced her husband with the excuse that he was a
lazy drunk, indifferent toward her. To the chagrin of her family, she didn't go
back to live with them. Instead, she rented an apartment and sought employment
at the Ministry of Public Works. Then she took study leave to get a degree in
architectural engineering (a most unusual vocation for a woman)… and returned
to the Ministry once she was done to work as an engineer in the Tenders and
Contracts Department. What business does she have sticking her nose in a man's
world, as if she were his equal?"
This issue of education
remains till today in the poorer parts of the Arab world, Egypt included, as
the elderly believe women need to become wives and mothers before being
educated or allowed to work.
A reader of That
Other Me needs to remember that this is a work of fiction as it has some
scathing views of the ultra-wealthy Emiratis.
I
liked Gargash's use of Arabic words, some of which are non-translatable, while
others were used to give a better feel of the novel and the settings, like "habibchi" as said by Dalal's manager.
The
imagery in That Other
Me is brilliant,
constant and fresh. There are a lot of scenes and speeches worth
highlighting/quoting/noting throughout the book. (I'm holding myself back).
I loved Gargash's use of poetic justice. Simply wicked!
Overall,
That Other Me is an
enjoyable, mind-provoking and flowing read. I'll definitely be interested in
reading more of Maha Gargash's work in the future.
Note: The number of quotes I highlighted in the novel is HUGE. Naturally,
I couldn't quote them.
Note: I received a reviewers' copy from the publisher in exchange for an
honest review. Thank you :)
