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The Feminine Art
Set in America and the Middle East in the early 1990s, The Feminine Art is the story of Suham, a married woman who distracts herself from boredom by trying to find her nephew, Michael, a wife. The perfect bride happens to be in Baghdad. As the arranged wedding takes a shape of its own, Suham and Michael are challenged to face the truths within themselves that had been kept hidden behind tradition and illusion.
238 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
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About the author
Weam Namou
40 books56 followersBorn in Baghdad to an ancient lineage called the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians who still speak Aramaic), Weam Namou is the Executive Director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, which houses the first and only Chaldean Museum in the world. She’s an Eric Hoffer award-winning author of 15 books, a multi-international award-winning filmmaker, journalist, poet, and an Ambassador for the Authors Guild of America [Detroit Chapter], the nation’s oldest and largest writing organization.
Namou is th executive director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, which houses the world's first and only Chaldean Museum. She hosts a half-hour weekly TV show, and she’s the founder of The Path of Consciousness, a spiritual and writing community, and Unique Voices in Films, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. You can find her on https://www.patreon.com/WeamNamou
Namou’s book, The Great American Family: A Story of Political Disenchantment, won an Eric Hoffer Book Award and her feature documentary with the same title, which she wrote, produced, and directed, earned over 8 international film awards and is currently availabe on Amazon Prime. Her feature script “Pomegranate” was selected quarter-finalist by Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope and is currently touring film festivals.
Namou's essays, articles, and poetry have been published by national and international publications including World Literature Today, Acumen [England], and the Transnational [Germany]. A keynote speaker, Namou has given readings, lectures, and workshops at numerous cultural and educational institutions. In 2012, Erootha, a local arts organization, honored her with an Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award.
After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Wayne State University, Namou traveled the world as she studied fiction and memoir through various correspondence courses, poetry in Prague through the University of New Orleans, and screenwriting at MPI (Motion Picture Institute of Michigan). She learned of ancient philosophies from Indian and Native American teachers, and most recently, from internationally bestselling author and mystic Lynn V. Andrews. A graduate of Andrews’ four-year course of study and training in the sacred healing art,
Namou is th executive director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, which houses the world's first and only Chaldean Museum. She hosts a half-hour weekly TV show, and she’s the founder of The Path of Consciousness, a spiritual and writing community, and Unique Voices in Films, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. You can find her on https://www.patreon.com/WeamNamou
Namou’s book, The Great American Family: A Story of Political Disenchantment, won an Eric Hoffer Book Award and her feature documentary with the same title, which she wrote, produced, and directed, earned over 8 international film awards and is currently availabe on Amazon Prime. Her feature script “Pomegranate” was selected quarter-finalist by Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope and is currently touring film festivals.
Namou's essays, articles, and poetry have been published by national and international publications including World Literature Today, Acumen [England], and the Transnational [Germany]. A keynote speaker, Namou has given readings, lectures, and workshops at numerous cultural and educational institutions. In 2012, Erootha, a local arts organization, honored her with an Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award.
After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Wayne State University, Namou traveled the world as she studied fiction and memoir through various correspondence courses, poetry in Prague through the University of New Orleans, and screenwriting at MPI (Motion Picture Institute of Michigan). She learned of ancient philosophies from Indian and Native American teachers, and most recently, from internationally bestselling author and mystic Lynn V. Andrews. A graduate of Andrews’ four-year course of study and training in the sacred healing art,
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 23, 2010
The charming characters of this novel are all, like the author, Chaldean migrants (or at least would-be migrants) from Iraq, i.e. members of the Christian minority in the Middle East. According to the blurb, Namou is “the first […:] Chaldean American novelist to portray the descendants of ancient Mesopotamia …,” so the book promises a new take on intercultural experiences.
That promise is kept very nicely in the first part (2/5) of the book, while the characters live their ordinary lives in suburban Michigan, and their very oriental values are shown in sharp contrast to the American way of life. For instance, the thorough preparation and consumption of food seems to pervade people’s thoughts so comprehensively that practically every metaphor used comes from cooking, and every relationship is defined in terms of who cooks what for whom. In a way, this is a celebration of “slow food” and as such preferable to the American culture of junk food, but one can’t help feeling that it also stops people from achieving anything else in their lives, as food and family networking seem to take up 100% of their time. Similarly, the quest for an arranged marriage, which drives the plot of the story, contrasts with the sexual freedom that the potential groom has enjoyed in the US so far.
Not knowing (or caring) much about religions, I got the impression that the value system on display here seems to resemble those of Islamic communities from the Middle East more closely than those of European Christians. I only mention this because it suggests, interestingly, that geography and history may have had a stronger influence in shaping it than the actual religion.
Intriguingly, the characters (and their real life models?) don’t seem to appreciate the value of their heritage languages (Arabic and Aramaic) for their cultural identity, as it is mentioned that they randomly speak English, Arabic, or Aramaic to each other throughout the day, and often it appears to be English with Arabic words thrown in, as it is in the novel. As a former agony aunt in all things bilingualism I believe that if one wants to maintain one’s cultural heritage, the first and most obvious thing to do is to speak the heritage language consistently (and unmixed) whenever it is possible without offending outsiders.
To me, the novel lost interest a little bit after the action moved to Amman, the capital of Jordan, where the groom is to meet his prospective bride from Baghdad, and a wedding is to take place, or maybe not. With the geographical side of the culture clash removed from the equation, only the clash between the mildly Americanised Chaldeans and those fresh from Iraq remains. We are left with a claustrophobic circle of people panicking over wedding arrangements, while the underlying emotional conflicts remain veiled (or maybe one needs the "feminine art" to figure out what’s really going on, but I’m afraid as a man I need to have it explained in plain English). Although the beginning of the novel played the contrast of Michigan vs. Baghdad really well, I got absolutely no sense of place from the parts set in Amman.
Also galling the experience is a complete lack of editing – there are homophones and other spelling errors throughout the book (e.g. people waive for taxis and message their legs!), which has clearly never passed the hands of a competent copy-editor. These moans aside, it has been a very interesting insight into a culture that doesn’t get all that much media attention.
That promise is kept very nicely in the first part (2/5) of the book, while the characters live their ordinary lives in suburban Michigan, and their very oriental values are shown in sharp contrast to the American way of life. For instance, the thorough preparation and consumption of food seems to pervade people’s thoughts so comprehensively that practically every metaphor used comes from cooking, and every relationship is defined in terms of who cooks what for whom. In a way, this is a celebration of “slow food” and as such preferable to the American culture of junk food, but one can’t help feeling that it also stops people from achieving anything else in their lives, as food and family networking seem to take up 100% of their time. Similarly, the quest for an arranged marriage, which drives the plot of the story, contrasts with the sexual freedom that the potential groom has enjoyed in the US so far.
Not knowing (or caring) much about religions, I got the impression that the value system on display here seems to resemble those of Islamic communities from the Middle East more closely than those of European Christians. I only mention this because it suggests, interestingly, that geography and history may have had a stronger influence in shaping it than the actual religion.
Intriguingly, the characters (and their real life models?) don’t seem to appreciate the value of their heritage languages (Arabic and Aramaic) for their cultural identity, as it is mentioned that they randomly speak English, Arabic, or Aramaic to each other throughout the day, and often it appears to be English with Arabic words thrown in, as it is in the novel. As a former agony aunt in all things bilingualism I believe that if one wants to maintain one’s cultural heritage, the first and most obvious thing to do is to speak the heritage language consistently (and unmixed) whenever it is possible without offending outsiders.
To me, the novel lost interest a little bit after the action moved to Amman, the capital of Jordan, where the groom is to meet his prospective bride from Baghdad, and a wedding is to take place, or maybe not. With the geographical side of the culture clash removed from the equation, only the clash between the mildly Americanised Chaldeans and those fresh from Iraq remains. We are left with a claustrophobic circle of people panicking over wedding arrangements, while the underlying emotional conflicts remain veiled (or maybe one needs the "feminine art" to figure out what’s really going on, but I’m afraid as a man I need to have it explained in plain English). Although the beginning of the novel played the contrast of Michigan vs. Baghdad really well, I got absolutely no sense of place from the parts set in Amman.
Also galling the experience is a complete lack of editing – there are homophones and other spelling errors throughout the book (e.g. people waive for taxis and message their legs!), which has clearly never passed the hands of a competent copy-editor. These moans aside, it has been a very interesting insight into a culture that doesn’t get all that much media attention.
June 24, 2017
I enjoyed reading this book and seeing how she learned about her own life by trying to arrange her nephews life.I received this book free as part of goodreads giveaways
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews