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A Handful of Honey: Away to the Palm Groves of Morocco and Algeria
An hilarious and thought-provoking new travel book from the bestselling author of Extra Virgin.
Aiming to track down a small oasis town deep in the Sahara, some of whose generous inhabitants came to her rescue on a black day in her adolescence, Annie Hawes leaves her home in the olive groves of Italy and sets off along the south coast of the Mediterranean.
Travelling through Morocco and Algeria she eats pigeon pie with a family of cannabis farmers, and learns about the habits of djinns; she encounters citizens whose protest against the tyrannical King Hassan takes the form of attaching colanders to their television aerials - a practice he soon outlaws - and comes across a stone-age method of making olive-oil, still going strong. She allows a ten-year-old to lead her into the fundamentalist strongholds of the suburbs of Algiers - where she makes a good friend.
Plunging southwards, regardless, into the desert, she at last shares a lunch of salt-cured Saharan haggis with her old friends, in a green and pleasant palm grove perfumed by flowering henna: once, it seems, the favourite scent of the Prophet Mohammed. She discovers at journey's end that life in a date-farming oasis, haunting though its songs may be, is not so simple and uncomplicated as she has imagined.
Annie Hawes has legions of fans. Her writing has the well-built flow of fiction and the self-effacing honesty of a journal.
Aiming to track down a small oasis town deep in the Sahara, some of whose generous inhabitants came to her rescue on a black day in her adolescence, Annie Hawes leaves her home in the olive groves of Italy and sets off along the south coast of the Mediterranean.
Travelling through Morocco and Algeria she eats pigeon pie with a family of cannabis farmers, and learns about the habits of djinns; she encounters citizens whose protest against the tyrannical King Hassan takes the form of attaching colanders to their television aerials - a practice he soon outlaws - and comes across a stone-age method of making olive-oil, still going strong. She allows a ten-year-old to lead her into the fundamentalist strongholds of the suburbs of Algiers - where she makes a good friend.
Plunging southwards, regardless, into the desert, she at last shares a lunch of salt-cured Saharan haggis with her old friends, in a green and pleasant palm grove perfumed by flowering henna: once, it seems, the favourite scent of the Prophet Mohammed. She discovers at journey's end that life in a date-farming oasis, haunting though its songs may be, is not so simple and uncomplicated as she has imagined.
Annie Hawes has legions of fans. Her writing has the well-built flow of fiction and the self-effacing honesty of a journal.
418 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
December 22, 2011
My initial interest in reading this book was it's locations - Morocco and Algeria. Living in Morocco and having a Moroccan partner has led this country to hold a special place in my heart, thus any book set in Morocco would be of interest to me.
What I really liked about Annie Hawes writing style was that she really mixed the telling of the history of these countries with her own experiences very well. She was able to add humour to the cross-cultural problems/misunderstandings that one actually does experience in an Arab country (which I certainly could relate to!), but she does so without in any way disrepecting the people or their culture - big respect to a travel writer who can achieve that.
I was really interested in following the time span of the book, as she describes so many encounters in an abundance of detail, but when you actually think about it, you realise all occurred only within a few days. I've experienced similar situations in Morocco - living 2 weeks over the course of a couple of days, so this also made me smile.
Perhaps the best thing about this book was how it began and finished. A chance meeting on a European train, which led to her embarking upon this adventure 20 or so years later to find the people she met, and succeeding in doing so. This brought a real sense of symmetry to the book. A satisfying end to an enjoyable read.
QUOTATIONS I LIKED:
"I, for one, certainly couldn't look another human being in the eye and give him any good reason why he should have less right than me to travel the world and try his fortune."
"The moral high ground, Mariam says, is the perfect placec to bully people from."
What I really liked about Annie Hawes writing style was that she really mixed the telling of the history of these countries with her own experiences very well. She was able to add humour to the cross-cultural problems/misunderstandings that one actually does experience in an Arab country (which I certainly could relate to!), but she does so without in any way disrepecting the people or their culture - big respect to a travel writer who can achieve that.
I was really interested in following the time span of the book, as she describes so many encounters in an abundance of detail, but when you actually think about it, you realise all occurred only within a few days. I've experienced similar situations in Morocco - living 2 weeks over the course of a couple of days, so this also made me smile.
Perhaps the best thing about this book was how it began and finished. A chance meeting on a European train, which led to her embarking upon this adventure 20 or so years later to find the people she met, and succeeding in doing so. This brought a real sense of symmetry to the book. A satisfying end to an enjoyable read.
QUOTATIONS I LIKED:
"I, for one, certainly couldn't look another human being in the eye and give him any good reason why he should have less right than me to travel the world and try his fortune."
"The moral high ground, Mariam says, is the perfect placec to bully people from."
February 5, 2018
The book was heavy on descriptions of history and politics that kept reading pace really slow. I expected there to be more instances of 'daily life in Morocco or Algeria' type of stories, characterisation of people. It could serve as an unconventional historical travel book if you may but would not think of it as a 'must read' book.
I preferred 'A House in Fez' or 'In Arabian Nights' much more.
I preferred 'A House in Fez' or 'In Arabian Nights' much more.
July 15, 2008
I was really excited about this and got to page 246, but to be honest, it was a little too dense with the history of language, religion and colonisation for me.
I wanted more of the sights and sounds and tastes of Hawes' present-moment travel.
I wanted more of the sights and sounds and tastes of Hawes' present-moment travel.
May 1, 2023
3.5 ⭐️. This is an autobiography / travel book, and I much prefer this approach of delving into layers of history and the richness of genuine experiences as opposed to restaurant reviews and travel guide commentary.
The author’s experiences are so interesting, her descriptions vivid, her historical knowledge impressive. She absorbs so much in her travels and we get a taste of it all, maybe too much as it felt like it dragged in places.
However, the premise of exploring, traveling, merging with a culture, I have so much respect for. The book comes full circle with the author finding the friends she had met on a train years earlier, and learning an important life lesson; deciding, from the marabout’s wise words, whether she wants a handful of honey, or a basket of bees, for life is a choice between one and the other.
The author’s experiences are so interesting, her descriptions vivid, her historical knowledge impressive. She absorbs so much in her travels and we get a taste of it all, maybe too much as it felt like it dragged in places.
However, the premise of exploring, traveling, merging with a culture, I have so much respect for. The book comes full circle with the author finding the friends she had met on a train years earlier, and learning an important life lesson; deciding, from the marabout’s wise words, whether she wants a handful of honey, or a basket of bees, for life is a choice between one and the other.
December 18, 2021
I can't get through it. Read her other books!! Terribly titled like "extra virgin" but warm and funny and real. This one I can't get into
May 6, 2012
I adore this book;this is my second reading..I have been fascinated by north africa ever since reading Paul Bowles' works in my youth and feasting on the tale of the intrepid victorian traveller Isabelle Eberhardt , who married an algerian soldier and died in a flash flood in the algerian sahara. Add a dash of 'Hideous Kinky' by Esther Freud and I was hooked...
I haven't made it to Morocco yet but found the descriptions vivid and enticing and would love to go someday.
And as for Algeria..well, I have seen something of it through the eyes of my Algerian husband whose Algiers-dwelling family has made me very welcome, but this book looks at a lot more history and culture than I have yet been able to learn about. I laughed at her descriptions of some of the people and situations she encountered, and cringed at some of the faux-pas she made. I also think that the women are a lot less child -like and much more complex than she was aware of...of course with the language barrier she had no way of knowing that..
The book finishes just at the point where the political situation was starting to get difficult, and I doubt she would have been able to make her trip a couple of years later, but I'm glad she did because I so enjoyed the book..
I haven't made it to Morocco yet but found the descriptions vivid and enticing and would love to go someday.
And as for Algeria..well, I have seen something of it through the eyes of my Algerian husband whose Algiers-dwelling family has made me very welcome, but this book looks at a lot more history and culture than I have yet been able to learn about. I laughed at her descriptions of some of the people and situations she encountered, and cringed at some of the faux-pas she made. I also think that the women are a lot less child -like and much more complex than she was aware of...of course with the language barrier she had no way of knowing that..
The book finishes just at the point where the political situation was starting to get difficult, and I doubt she would have been able to make her trip a couple of years later, but I'm glad she did because I so enjoyed the book..
August 2, 2011
Be ready for a lot of anthropology, history, and politics as the inquisitive Annie Hawes wants to know everything about Morocco, the role of the Moors in European history and Algeria of the present. Never in fear of asking straight questions, she gets to the reasoning behind many of the religious rules and finds out why the youth of Algeria is becoming extremist.
It is heart-breaking to get closer to the timid, shy, locked-up-behind-veils-or-walls, forever working women. Even the heavy many-folded turban is designed to give the men more protection from the sun than women who may not deviate from the single layer of cloth!I loved it when Annie could on occassion draw giggles or comments from the ladies, but even their childish ways show that the women are a long way from sophistication and education.
As in the previous book by Annie Hawes, the experience of local food is a delight, and I, for one, am definitely going to make a far more interesting carrot salad in future!
To sum up, the book is not an easy read, but very informative.
It is heart-breaking to get closer to the timid, shy, locked-up-behind-veils-or-walls, forever working women. Even the heavy many-folded turban is designed to give the men more protection from the sun than women who may not deviate from the single layer of cloth!I loved it when Annie could on occassion draw giggles or comments from the ladies, but even their childish ways show that the women are a long way from sophistication and education.
As in the previous book by Annie Hawes, the experience of local food is a delight, and I, for one, am definitely going to make a far more interesting carrot salad in future!
To sum up, the book is not an easy read, but very informative.
July 21, 2019
This is the first of Hawes books 've ever read and probably the last. Its one of the most boring books I ever read. Politics politics politics!! This is non-fiction but I wonder how much is made up. At one point the author says she is positively drunk but she carries on relating everybody's view and contribution to the political discussion around the dinner table. Really?
The only reason why I persevered was because I know Morocco and wanted to hear her comments and because I have never been to Algiers and wanted to hear her comments. But its not worth scrolling through 10 or more pages of ramblings to find a single sentence that interest me.
The only reason why I persevered was because I know Morocco and wanted to hear her comments and because I have never been to Algiers and wanted to hear her comments. But its not worth scrolling through 10 or more pages of ramblings to find a single sentence that interest me.
November 7, 2009
Slow going at first, but picks up steam once she gets out into the Moroccan countryside. Great insight into the real Algeria as well, especially in the "outback" where things weren't always as they seemed, although I found it a bit confusing keeping track of all the players there.
The two French guys she traveled with were straight out of a Tintin adventure, IMHO (yes, I know he's Belgian!).
Recommended for re-enforcing the reality that a nation's government isn't always universally popular.
The two French guys she traveled with were straight out of a Tintin adventure, IMHO (yes, I know he's Belgian!).
Recommended for re-enforcing the reality that a nation's government isn't always universally popular.
February 11, 2012
"A jar or honey or a basket of bees" this book to me was amazing in bringing the reader into cultures foreign to them and making it come alive. i enjoyed this book and felt brought into the whole story as if i were part of it. take the jar of honey and you have sweetness for a time. the basket of bees (hive) and you have honey for a long time, but maybe some other things thrown into the mix.
February 27, 2017
A pretty sweet travel story though Northern Morocco and into Algeria (sadly not possible now, as the land border is closed). Very much showcased the hospitality that Moroccans are known for.
March 30, 2019
Most parts beautifully written, particularly about food and people’s lives. I was not too keen on the political bits though.
January 5, 2020
Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this book. I love Annie Hawes 3 books about living In Italy, and had high hopes for this book. My expectations were not met. I didn’t even finish it.
February 23, 2017
Listened on audio. At the beginning, when she was in a prison, I thought it was going to be too confronting and gruesome but it turned out to be an enjoyable and thought provoking short book about a woman travelling in Africa and making friends.
January 17, 2021
Annie Hawes story of traveling through Morocco and Alergia to find a Saharan family that helped her decades ago is well-written and enjoyable, particularly if you've traveled in either of these countries. Otherwise, the appeal of her journey and 'adventures' are likely lost on the reader.
January 10, 2023
I’m finding the book pretty hard going . There is a Lock of focus on the landscape however I expected it to be more about the people. I’ll persevere until I finish it.
June 9, 2020
Algeria
December 15, 2021
Should you read this? Do you like listening to your friends talk about their vacations? Pretend they are smart, mostly self-aware friends, and these friends like to rough it. This is not a tourist blog. This is not a how-to Tripadvisor post in long-form. This is a very detailed life experience about immersing yourself in a culture in a way that most of us will never, ever take the time or have the wherewithal to do. It's informative and tries to teach a little about the people in our world. She gets in close, makes friends, and mostly learns about cultures. It's light. It's short.
March 2, 2011
I learnt a huge amount reading this. Not just from Annie's tale, but from the research it inspired me to do to better understand, in particular the political landscape of Algeria at the time. Recommended read. Easy, engaging style, amazing encounters and quite an insight into the people encountered on this journey.
November 17, 2011
Another great book from Annie Hawes. I just love her witty observations and sense of humour. This is a must read if you are planning a trip to Morocco or have already been. If you haven't read her books before I can highly recommend "Extra Virgin", her first book about setting up home in the Italian countryside.
February 8, 2016
I greatly enjoyed Annie Hawes books of her life in Italy so was keen to read this one about her trip through Morocco and Algeria. It was informative and interesting, but a bit harder going than the previous novels. The cultural differences and unfamiliar names make it a little more difficult ( requires more concentration!). Worth the effort.
September 4, 2008
I have enjoyed all of Annie Hawes books. I wondered if it was because she is writing about Italy but I enjoyed this one as much. It made me realise how little I know about these countries and I am looking forward to following her through the Sahara
October 9, 2013
I always enjoy good travel literature and this one did not disappoint - very interesting, humorous, exotic and informative. It reminded me of some of my own travels in north Africa. I will definitely look into reading her other books about life in Italy.
February 23, 2010
It was the first time I had read a 'travel' book like this and I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading more of Annie's books.
April 13, 2021
Didn't enjoy as much as her earlier books, but still ok.
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February 7, 2011BEST BOOK
March 21, 2011
My book-club and I have abandoned this book. Thank God.
August 14, 2012
A woman and two friends travel through Algeria and Morocco. Very interesting and increased my understanding of Islam.
August 19, 2013
how fascinating Algeria and Morocco seem, though fundamentally depressing to read yet another narrative of an ancient culture devastated by its encounter with contemporary western "civilisation ".
February 26, 2014
Did not like this book at all.
I was expecting a funny book like Extra Virgin, Annie's first book, but this was just a lot of historical facts one after the other.
I was expecting a funny book like Extra Virgin, Annie's first book, but this was just a lot of historical facts one after the other.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews