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The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades
Spanning from the 1960s to the 1990s, The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades is an epic tale of a small village in eastern Ethiopia struggling to maintain its identity and heritage as the modern world encroaches on its isolation. Aba Yitades, the local priest, takes this challenge very personally. The father of three daughters, he is always alert to the new temptations they face—and never more so than when the arrival of a family of American missionaries threatens to put an end to the community's most treasured traditions. Steeped in the rich and unique culture of the Ethiopian highlands, this story of a village's reluctant but inevitable modernization—and one woman's tragic downfall—is told with Nega Mezlekia's customary wit and charm.
330 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Nega Mezlekia
11 books28 followersNega Mezlekia (Amharic: ነጋ መዝለክአ; born 1958) is an Ethiopian writer who writes in English. His first language is the Amharic language, but since the 1980s he has lived in Canada so speaks and writes in English.
Nega was born in Jijiga, the oldest son of Mezlekia, a bureaucrat in the Imperial government. Although initially supporting the revolution that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, he grew strongly critical of the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. As a late teenager he abandoned his mother and siblings and set off with his best friend to join one of the armed rebel groups. In 1983 he left his position at Haramaya University to accept an engineering scholarship and study at Wageningen University. After two years in the Netherlands he was still unable to return home so moved to Canada instead. He has still never returned to Ethiopia.
He recounted his life story in his first book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly. Published in 2000, his book won the Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction that same year.
Mezlekia followed it up with the novel The God Who Begat a Jackal, which concerns an old Ethiopian myth. Although he still is a practicing engineer he indicates that he misses that sense of myth and spirituality from his youth.
(from Wikipedia)
Nega was born in Jijiga, the oldest son of Mezlekia, a bureaucrat in the Imperial government. Although initially supporting the revolution that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, he grew strongly critical of the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. As a late teenager he abandoned his mother and siblings and set off with his best friend to join one of the armed rebel groups. In 1983 he left his position at Haramaya University to accept an engineering scholarship and study at Wageningen University. After two years in the Netherlands he was still unable to return home so moved to Canada instead. He has still never returned to Ethiopia.
He recounted his life story in his first book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly. Published in 2000, his book won the Governor General's Award for English language non-fiction that same year.
Mezlekia followed it up with the novel The God Who Begat a Jackal, which concerns an old Ethiopian myth. Although he still is a practicing engineer he indicates that he misses that sense of myth and spirituality from his youth.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 2, 2009
Great story and great characters, plus insight into a little-known (to me, at least) culture.
March 4, 2009
Not long into my reading of this book I stopped, put it aside and did not come back to it for a long time. I started it not long after I had read 100 Years of Solitude and the theme of a small town, untouched by technology and colonization and rooted in superstition and religion was too similar to the book that I enjoyed that I almost resented it. Having loved Solitude I wasn't ready to see a carbon-copy of it.
The second reason I put it down was the because of the treatment of the character Azeb. I wasn't sure how much heartbreak I was willing to endure in reading it.
Thankfully, The Unfortunate Marriage Of Azeb Yitadesbreaks free of the gift of sublety in his characters emotions and motivations.
As a University professor, author Mezlekia does tend to be didactic in his telling of this story. Taking many pauses in the flow and action of the text to exmplain the historical significance of a ritual or event. For the most part, this works very well. The audience of this book likely does not know about the history of Ethiopian small towns. By the end however, the plot is completely buried in explanations of the Ethopian legal system and the allusions to an unhappy future for most of the characters involved within it. Azeb herself becomes less likeable, with the unravelling of her life based on her wish to gasp "Mother Mary" in loving rapture. And abruptly it is all over, Oona is an old woman in America and the political climate in Ethopia is completely changed. I applaud Mezlekia's ability to focus on the period before complete change and unrest but the summary of the event which follow are such an afterthought that afterthe trial at the end of the book, I was not moved by any of the characters.
The second reason I put it down was the because of the treatment of the character Azeb. I wasn't sure how much heartbreak I was willing to endure in reading it.
Thankfully, The Unfortunate Marriage Of Azeb Yitadesbreaks free of the gift of sublety in his characters emotions and motivations.
As a University professor, author Mezlekia does tend to be didactic in his telling of this story. Taking many pauses in the flow and action of the text to exmplain the historical significance of a ritual or event. For the most part, this works very well. The audience of this book likely does not know about the history of Ethiopian small towns. By the end however, the plot is completely buried in explanations of the Ethopian legal system and the allusions to an unhappy future for most of the characters involved within it. Azeb herself becomes less likeable, with the unravelling of her life based on her wish to gasp "Mother Mary" in loving rapture. And abruptly it is all over, Oona is an old woman in America and the political climate in Ethopia is completely changed. I applaud Mezlekia's ability to focus on the period before complete change and unrest but the summary of the event which follow are such an afterthought that afterthe trial at the end of the book, I was not moved by any of the characters.
January 17, 2009
This is one of the more interesting books I've ever read. It's set in a small village in Ethiopia, where the author was born, and focuses on the life of the local priest and his family. Azeb Yitades is one of the priest's daughters. This village practises a sort of Christianity that I have never before heard of, and their village customs would thrill any anthropologist. It's a sad book in many ways but always riveting, always unusual.
June 3, 2023
Stories involving religion are depressing, but still, this book has a pleasant flow to it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews