My Name is Salma by Fadia Faqir
Nowhere in this book does it say that it is set in Jordan – the country is referred to as the Levant, which could be anywhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. The reason for this could be because of the subject matter – ‘honour’ killings. However the author is Jordanian by birth and the country is definitely not Lebanon but is a country to the SE of Lebanon.
Teenage Salma lives in a remote village. She is seduced by Hamdan, who disowns her when he finds out she is pregnant. Salma is taken into prison for her own protection, as her older brother has vowed to kill her. She gives birth to a daughter, who is taken away immediately. 8 years later she is released from prison into the care of some Lebanese nuns. However she has to flee from Lebanon when her brother learns she has been released from prison. She flees to England with a nun and lives initially with a Quaker in Branscombe in Devon. After a year she moves first to a hostel in Exeter and then to lodge with an alcoholic landlady. She makes a few friends and gets a job in a tailoring company. 9 years later, despite having married an English lecturer and given birth to a son, she decides to return to Jordan to find her daughter. Don’t expect a happy ending because there isn’t one. Exeter is one of my favourite cities but Salma doesn’t like or its residents much and spends most of her time feeling sorry for herself. I felt she could have been more grateful to the Lebanese nuns and the Quaker who rescued her and cared for her out of the kindness of their hearts. 6/10
16th January 2011
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