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Hassouna Mosbahi. A Tunisian Tale. Max Weiss, tr. Cairo. American University in Cairo Press (Oxford University Press, distr.). 2011. isbn 9789774164804
Set on the eve of the Iraq War, A Tunisian Tale reveals a westernized elite that coexists with those in rural villages and urban slums whose inherited systems often stunt lives, ultimately breeding violence. The novel's structure likewise reflects this central dualism, its Western form containing a traditional Arabic tale narrated by the condemned son. Its conclusion, the latter's happy ending, contrasts sharply with the dark fates of the novel's protagonists embedded in the first two chapters.
Alternating first-person monologues compose the narrative structure: the son, Alaa al-Din, stoically awaits execution for his mother's murder; the mother, Najma, speaks "from beyond the grave." The linear plot then provides the backstory for...