Ruqaya Izzidien

The review of The Watermelon Boys in the Asian Review of Books was intriguing: a retelling of WW1 from an Iraqi perspective.
The novel begins well but the hectoring about British colonialism becomes wearying after a while, especially in the second half of the book. It's supposed to be a historical novel, not a lecture on anti-colonialism.

First novels are usually about getting something off the author's chest, and this author has no shortage of issues with which to educate the reader.

Set mostly in Iraq but also briefly in Wales, the novel tells the story of how two young men came to be involved in the the First World War in Iraq. Ahmad joins the British Army (after first fighting on the other side for the Ottomans) because he believes British promises to liberate Baghdad from the Turkish colonisers. Carwyn, who hates the British since his father died after a truncheon blow to the head during a miner's strike in Wales, is bullied into enlisting by his stepfather. Both of them, like most men in WW1, would rather not be killing anybody.

BEWARE: SPOILERS

However, while the main focus in on educating her readers about the evils of colonialism on an harmonious Arabic society, there's also the oppression of women in a patriarchal society to deal with. A #MeToo moment segues into a brutal murder. There's also the gendered roles in society exemplified by Dabriya, Ahmad's wife, who is beautiful, stoic and resilient. She is firmly ensconced in the domestic realm and in Ahmad's nostalgic memories (which are occasionally coyly lustful). But when her son is at risk she leaps onto horse despite the disapproval of men and gallops off to warn him. A pretty good effort if she'd never sat on a horse before, eh?

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/05/01/the-watermelon-boys-by-ruqaya-izzidien/… (més)