A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco

by Suzanna Clarke

The Medina -- the Old City -- of Fez is the best-preserved, medieval walled city in the world. Inside this vibrant Moroccan community, internet cafes and mobile phones coexist with a maze of donkey-trod alleyways, thousand-year-old sewer systems, and Arab-style houses, gorgeous with intricate, if often shabby, mosaic work.

While vacationing in Morocco, Suzanna Clarke and her husband, Sandy, are inspired to buy a dilapidated, centuries-old riad in Fez with the aim of restoring it to its original splendor, using only traditional craftsmen and handmade materials. So begins a remarkable adventure that is bewildering, at times hilarious, and ultimately immensely rewarding.

A House in Fez chronicles their meticulous restoration, but it is also a journey into Moroccan customs and lore and a window into the lives of its people as friendships blossom. When the riad is finally returned to its former glory, Suzanna finds she has not just restored an old house, but also her soul.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Morocco, Memoir, Africa, Biography, Middle East

296 pages, Paperback

Published November 11, 2008

Reviews

[tea_for_two · Rating 3 out of 5]

An pleasant enough read - travel lit lite - and as a fellow expat living in Morocco (I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer serving here) I can empathize with some of Clarke's frustrations, but like many of the other commenters, I was struck by how little interaction Clarke really had with Morocco.

Her primary social group was almost entirely made up of foreigners, and the only Moroccans she regularly interacted with were her employees, or the two women she formed fraught and unequal relationships with. While Clarke was enamored with Morocco and was generally positive about Moroccan culture, she made no effort to learn the language, meaning she could only interact with Moroccans who spoke English or French (meaning she only could speak with Moroccans who were educated enough to speak three or more languages). She does mentions a few Arabic words, but some of them are translated incorrectly and almost all of them are spelled that makes me think she's mispronouncing them badly. She talks about her worries about being part of a colonizing force, but also chose to study French, the language of the colonists.

I was surprised by some of the topics she didn't mention, or glossed over, especially Islam, which is such a fundamental and integral part of Moroccan life that it's impossible to really understand Morocco or Moroccans without taking it into account.

The one bright spot of the book was when she took a trip to Sefrou, the town I'm currently living in, and visited the suq that's right next to my house. I don't think I've ever had a book intersect with my real life quite that dramatically.

A House in Fez is ultimately a pleasant enough read about a restoration project and expat life in Morocco, but not a real look at Moroccan culture.

[Sally906 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suzanna Clarke is a reporter for the Brisbane Courier and in A HOUSE IN FEZ she relates how she and her husband fell in love with a country and purchased, then renovated, a centuries old house in Fez, Morocco. Only able to spend a few months at a time in Morocco, a lot of the work had to be done remotely from Australia with a few good friends back in Morocco helping out where they can. In between the story of the renovations, locating tradesmen and dealing with red tape Suzanna also relates the rich history of the country, the religious beliefs and the customs of the people she comes across. Morocco came alive on the pages, her descriptions are vivid and you could just close your eyes and see the scene that Susanna had described - how the ancient land is slowly being westernised with the two cultures living side by side:

"...Internet cafes rub shoulders with artisans’ workshops..."

"...peasants on donkeys trot beneath billboards advertising the latest mobile phones...”

Suzanna started off saying that she didn’t want to be a foreigner who only hung out with other foreigners – but at first she did. The way she described her early social interactions came over that while she socialised with locals she didn’t totally trust them, certainly didn’t sympathise with many of them, and suspected them of trying to get one over her all the time – which she was mostly right about to be perfectly honest, but not in every case. Eventually she became close friends with a few local ladies who helped her understand that life in Morocco is not as modern as society would like you to think. By the end of the book Suzanna was dancing at their parties and whenever they had to return to Australia both Suzanna and her husband missed the laid back and unpredictable life in Fez when compared to their meticulously organized lives in Australia.

I chose this book as I need a book set in Morocco as part of my read around the world challenge – the fact it was an Aussie author was a bonus. If you are thinking of travelling to Morocco, as my 85 year old mother is, I certainly recommend this book for background reading.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because we were thinking about traveling to Morocco in the fall and I wanted to get excited about the trip. This book had the exact opposite effect. I'm certain it was unintentional, but the author made Morocco sound really unappealing. She obviously enjoys living there, but completely failed at conveying why she does. I also found the author to be very whiny. The book was mostly comprised of complaints about how difficult it was to renovate this house. I know that living in a construction zone can be challenging, but she wasn't doing it herself. She had a team of 18 workers doing the actual work. Do not read this book if you are considering a trip to Morocco.

[Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and part of me wants to give it another star because it is about Morocco, a country I love deeply but I at this point I just have to keep it at three starts. It was a good enough read but not as great as other books out there that are similar (not that you shouldn't read this to get more of a glimpse of moving to Morocco).

I was deeply disappointed with the fact that Clarke, who was moving from Australia to Morocco part time had very little contact with Moroccans. Unfortunately, this is something quite a lot of expatriates seem to to, or get stuck in. I've heard some people say it's because western and eastern cultures are so different but I don't think it's so much that as I saw the same thing happen when I studied in France, many, many other students only stuck with other Americans.

I'm not so taken aback by her choice to study French. It probably is much easier of a start for a lot of westerners and it does open up a lot of doors (though not always the same ones that would be opened if somebody learned Darija (the Moroccan Arabic dialect). There did seem to be no mention of wishing to pick up more Darija in the future, no mention of taking classes for it. To each their own but I feel this is terribly sad, and affects her experience in Morocco a great deal and that in turn affects this book, her story. Still a good read and should be placed on any "I'm moving to Morocco" book list.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unusually for me, I actually had to force myself to finish this book. Other reviewers have cited the author's tone as something of a turn-off. As a frequent visitor to the Middle East, I'm familiar with the frustrations that Ms. Clarke expresses ("Why is everything so needlessly complex??") but there was a cross between self-congratulation for dealing with Moroccan bureaucracy and the informal economy (read: tips and bribes) coupled with a constant need to remind us that she basically didn't trust anyone she met in Morocco that really started to grate on me. Her constant friends throughout the book are all western or westernized Moroccans.

While I can't say that I would have written a different book in her shoes the overall approach was a little too light-and-fluffy for my tastes. By the end of if, I still just didn't feel like we'd gotten anywhere. What did she learn from this experience? I'm still not sure.

Anyone looking for a similar story with some meat on its bones would do well to track down a copy of Elizabeth Warnock Fernea's "A Street in Marrakech" instead.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there were more stars, 5 does not seem enough for this book. History, culture through an outsider's eyes, home restoration and the human connection that makes the world go 'round. This book will fuel my day-dreams for years to come.

[Mindy McAdams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. I recently read The Caliph's House, about restoring a traditional house in Casablanca. The problem is not that this book (about restoring a traditional house in Fez -- or Fès) is too similar to the other, but rather that it is so inferior in style and flavor.

The most annoying thing for me was that that author continually talks about how much each thing costs. Prices, amounts of dirhams, and how every Moroccan is always cheating the Australian author and her husband -- if you deleted all these from the book, it would lose half its pages. In contrast, the author of the other book was also cheated and also overpaid for things, and sometimes mentioned prices, but his story never seemed like an accounts ledger. This one very nearly did.

The worse thing, stylistically, is too much telling and not enough showing -- the fatal downfall of storytelling. We are constantly being told that someone is kind or gentle or this or that, but we rarely get to see anyone being themselves. (This too is a great contrast to the other book.)

I couldn't help feeling like these two Australians really were the new colonizers of Morocco, with most of their contacts and dinner-party companions being other foreigners who have come to live, part time, in Fez, buying up houses in the car-free Medina and restoring them. Most of their interactions with Moroccan people are as employers, hiring cleaners and plumbers and plasterers to work on their houses, or dealing with clerks and officials in the frustrating quest to get the required building permits.

I did learn some interesting things about the history of Morocco and its architecture, although the author inserts these interludes clumsily among the tedious accounts about how much money she had to pay this person and that person again and again.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Australian couple made the decision to buy a traditional house in Morocco. They chose a 19th century beautiful house which had fallen into disrepair. This is the account of the restoration of that house. This book gives the reader a glimpse into the culture of this country where modern and traditional occupy the same space, where generous hospitality and greedy cunning are normal behaviors, where inspiring innovation and a shockingly poor work ethic amaze and frustrate. It was wonderful to learn about another culture. But at times, this felt like looking at a friend’s vacation pictures. The views were stunning, but I struggled to sustain interest.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not impressive, as travel writing goes. Clarke is neither patient nor humorous enough to pull it off, and is rather ungraceful in dealing with unforeseen issues with buying a house and living in a foreign country. Understandable, but makes for a boring/annoying book.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was mezyan (good in Darija), but not mezyan bezzaf (very good). It's definitely a lot easier to read about restoring a 300-year old riad in the Fez Medina than actually going through the process itself. At first I thought Suzanne Clarke was a woman after my own heart-- a G&T drinking writer who prefers life without a TV willing to tilt headlong into an adventurous pursuit-- and bringing back an old building using traditional methods in a culture that you are not well-versed in is adventuresome. The Medina in Fez does not allow cars and homes are built into, under, around, on top of other people's homes so life is permeable and without boundaries. Clarke is a Western-white woman and. she. has. boundaries. As much as she wants to live in Fez and learn its culture, she is not going to be a "part" of Fez. She tries to understand Moroccan life and often checks her privilege, but understanding often runs up against her privilege. She often makes glib observations that distance her from her from the culture. For example, in discussing the prevalence of slavery in Morocco, she recounts how the Barbary pirates used to kidnap people in Ireland and England to be used as slaves and concubines and she wonders what it must have been for those couple of thousand white people to be taken from their homes and forced into a life and culture they didn't ask for. She feels real distress for them. However, she fails to make the connection that Morocco is in AFRICA and millions of its people experienced the same thing. She also doesn't connect that her other home is in Australia, a country founded by people taken from their homes and forced to live a life they did not ask for. She also equates an argument with a neighbor to the Charlie Hebdo incident-- an event that was deeply insulting to the Islamic community-- the community that she now lives. There are other quips, but these made me stop and say, "Really, Suzanna?!". She also doesn't really make friends; it's like there's her and then, everyone else. I'd hope that my G&T loving self would be more culturally-aware and be good friends with my neighbors (of course, offering sweet mint tea and keeping my gin in my cupboard as the majority of Moroccans do not drink).

The restoration of the home feels a bit like HGTV's Property Brothers where new problems emerge and the budget is constantly reexamined, but without the brothers, efficient crew, and hour time-slot. Instead of Home Depot there are myriad of souks to explore, purveyors who willingly overcharge her, playing on her ignorance, and craftsmen who may or may not show up to work. While ultimately rewarding, it is an incredibly frustrating experience to refurbish a home in Morocco. When (if) I finally fulfill my dream of being an ex-pat, I imagine my memoir will be titled: A Functional Apartment in (Name of City).

However, she provides a lot of good information about Fez's history and Morocco's work to make the country safe from terrorism, especially after 9/11. If you're headed to Fez or Morocco in general, it is a good and informative read.

[N · Rating 2 out of 5]

This memoir of an Australian couple who buy and renovate a riad (traditional Moroccan house) in Fez is very 'oh, white people', but I quite enjoyed learning snippets about Fez, and stories of wrangling a house through a renovation have conflict baked in.

As a memoir, though, it's pretty ropey. There's not much of an arc beyond, "could we renovate a house? hey, we renovated a house!" I literally could not tell you one thing about Suzanna Clarke beyond the fact that she's a journalist. And the book ends like someone racing to hit a deadline.

The big issue, of course, is how much the native Moroccans feel like cartoonish background players in this story. Clarke and her husband seem to care little for the real Fez; they're set on recreating a medieval ideal that probably never existed, and they seem irritated at anything that challenges their worldview.

In conclusion: oh, white people.

[Rosemarie Donzanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book to get a cultural glimpse of Fez prior to my trip to Morocco. I stopped reading a little past midway through as I wanted to savor and experience the culture before finishing. I loved the real life adventures Suzanna and her husband Sandy encountered while shopping for and renovating their riad in Fez. They encounter a lively cast of characters who have you laughing out loud and shaking your head. She describes a warm welcoming people who are so wonderful to be around yet can be so frustrating. Kinda like family. 😉. You gain a respect for the spirit and historical aspect of the Medina. My visit there will certainly be one of my greatest memories.

“Im the Fez Medina there are fourteen thousand buildings, whereas Marrakesh has only four thousand, which may mean Fez has a greater degree of resilience. Here we have a chance, unique in the world, to live as they did in the fourteenth century.”

"A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco" by Suzanna Clarke. Scribd.

[Robert Clancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book to read before our trip to Fez, Morocco last month. However, I only got through the first 3 chapters before we arrived in Fez. There was so much to see and do in Morocco, I didn't have one minute to pick up this account of an Australian couple who bought a riad in the heart of Fez in the ancient Medina. We also stayed at a first-class, great old riad called Ryad Mabrouka in the Medina. We also met a British couple from London - the same area where my daughter lives, Chiswick - who also own a riad in Fez and are rehab-ing it. For the past 4 years! After spending a week in Fez, I pick up Clarke's book and it was tremendously more enjoyable -- I felt like I was right back in the alleys and souks of the Medina. Like our trip to Morocco, this book tells you not only a lot about what it's like to live in an exotic, foreign country, but it also put's into perspective your own home life in America. What we take for granted, how we live, and the things that are better and not so good of our own American lifestyle. Who would have thought that free toilet paper in rest rooms was such a luxury? In Morocco, it's non-existent. We also have read the author's husband's blog - A View from Fez -- and find it educational if you're planning a trip to this ancient city.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the intensely personal story of the trials and tribulations of a couple who purchase and restore a vacation house in Fez. There were interesting snippets of history and information about present-day Fez but the primary focus was on all the effort that goes into renovating a house. Stressful enough in this country, I learned how much harder it is when it is a whole different culture.

I loved the image of the little donkeys, the dismay when they are seized, the exultation when they were returned and then there was a little lone donkey that set off because he already knew where he was going.

Didn't learn a whole lot about Morocco, or even a lot about Fez, but I did enjoy the little that was there.

[Lexi Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for anyone looking for background on Morocco's history as well as insight into the daily life of a foreigner in Fez. It was particularly poignant for me as after reading it I could practically smell the tanneries mingling with the cooking smells of dates, couscous, almonds and sweet mint tea. I can visualize the 'Blue Gate' that the french built when they conquered fez and thought the best way to control the population was by granting them architectural concessions. Walking through the ancient Medina Suzanna Clarke brings to life the everyday of extraordinary Morocco.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially I was a little put off by the author's tone. It did smack a bit of a Western superiority complex. But by the end I had grown in appreciation of what she and her husband were accomplishing with the renovation of the Moroccan riad. I would probably be a little smug, too, if I had fixed a place up in a way that honored tradition and looked fabulous.

It was interesting seeing how her acceptance of the Moroccan way of doing things grew. I appreciated getting a foreigners view of Moroccans from someone who chose to spend a considerable amount of time in Fez.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book about life, culture and buying and restoring an old house in one of the traditional and oldest parts of the ancient Moroccan city Fez. Complete and utter clash of two different mentalities but she wrote very well about why she loves (hates) city’s bribery and joyfulness, and it was easy for me to imagine myself there in that Muslim chaos. Looking forward travelling to North Africa.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been working in construction for several years (in the US) and it's a frustrating industry with delays and a constant change of laborers so I could only imagine how this would be in a foreign culture. Suzanna's renovation of her Moroccan home was a nice backdrop for we the reader to experience the nuances of this strange and beautiful land's culture.

[Laura Cunha · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://leiturasdelaura.blogspot.com.b...

Esse livro foi uma surpresa pelos motivos mais inusitados. Eu sou fã da escritora inglesa Susanna Clarke, que escreveu Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, e eu achei que esse livro era dela, o que o tornaria automaticamente um bom livro.

Agora olhem de novo o nome da autora na imagem.

Então, essa é a Suzanna Clarke. Autora da Nova Zelândia, que fez carreira de jornalista na Austrália e agora vive no Marrocos.

Sacanagem, né?

Mas tudo bem, essa Suzanna também escreve bem, e o livro é muito divertido, mesmo se tratando de uma obra, ou justamente por isso. Além disso, o livro é surpreendentemente pouco preconceituoso, o que torna a leitura muito agradável e tranquila. As fotos são especialmente bonitas, por isso vale a pena ler o livro numa versão física ou pelo menos ver as fotos do kindle no aplicativo do celular ou tablet.

Me corrigindo, vale mais a pena a versão física mesmo, porque a versão digital está cheia de erros, não de digitação, mas de digitalização, pois no meio do texto volta e meia aperecem perdidos o título do livro, ou o número da página, ou os 2 num combo, o que é muito desagradável.

[Zohra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed this is Suzanna's own story. The judgements and lack of engagement with Morrocans (outside of employing them) is a little damning..

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy books that allow me to learn about a different country and it's culture. "A House in Fez" is such a book. The author and her husband bought a house in Fez and restored it to its "original splendor".

There were frustrations along the way.

"This is how things are done in Morocco, I kept reminding myself, taking deep breaths. It was just as well my high-school French didn't run to swear words."

But through it all, it was the people who helped with the restoration that made the difference.

"The day we left, they phoned us from their new place of work, the mobile being passed around to wish us 'trek salaama' - safe travel. They chattered on happily in Darija and I had no idea what they were saying, but I understood the sentiment. Having shared our lives with them for so long, they felt like family. We would miss them all."

A fun book to read!

[Cassandra Kay Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fez has and interesting and unique history, it is a bit of a shame that this book did not cover more of this aspect. It did focus on some of the cultural taboos and norms, and some of the social aspects of the culture, and that was enjoyable, but it really relied heavily on stories about the building of this house that is frankly uninteresting. Anyone who has had any financial dealings within the Asia and Middle East know of these sorts of problems. We don't want to relive these experiences, its too frustrating! If the author wanted to talk about their building woes she should have used humor to temper the feelings, or better yet provided a satisfying ending to the whole shebackle. My house is finished = it is great the end is an unsatisfying way to finish a book like this.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it fascinating to read the account of an Australian couple who buy a riad in the Fez medina and slowly restore it. I've noticed some people mention the tediousness of Clarke's descriptions of the building and renovating work, however that really is the whole point of the book. The title alone should give you a hint as to what the contents are, particularly the word "Building". I didn't find this tedious; I like the way Clarke writes and thought the story flowed rather nicely. It made me want to buy my own dilapidated riad and do it up myself. It goes without saying that the mark of any good book is it's unfailing ability to pull you into it's world.

[D.C. Gallin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and the way it talks about the adventure, ensuing complications and financial drain of renovating a house in the medina of Fez. Permeated with a love for Morocco and its people, this is a very realistic and personal story describing with total honesty the contrast between us, the rich, comparatively spoilt westerners, and the poor inhabitants of the medina: The lively characterisations of the people and their art makes me want to fly over there in an instant and save an architectural gem while connecting with the locals. A great achievement by a writer who must have a big heart!

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clarke and her husband Sandy purchase a riad in Fez that is a fixer-upper, to put it mildly. The book explores in great detail and thorough minutiae the couple's process in renovating their home.

While Clarke does share her discoveries of the Moroccan culture, a touch of history, and offers some fun reflections on her various inter-personal relationships, the primary focus is on the, at times, tedious account of the home project.

I would say this book is closer to 3-1/2 stars because I did find the stories informative and overall an enjoyable read.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I like is Clarke's openness to the culture in which she and her partner find themselves when they decide to renovate a home in the ancient medina of Fez. So many books of this type are disdainful of the world to which they've willingly expatriated. In the way they painstakingly restore their home, in the way they befriend the people who do the work, and in the way they immerse themselves in Morroccan life, this is an inspiring and joy-full read -- even with the many woes that accompany any remodel.

[Salsadancer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Australian couple buy and restore a 3-century old riad (courtyard house) in Morocco. I enjoy reading about other people's experiences in other countries. I cannot imagine buying a centuries-old house in an ancient city where I can't speak the language and they undertaking the restoration of it. How daring! In addition to the house restoration, Suzanna worked in tidbits about the Moroccan culture with made it even more interesting.

[Carmen Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful read about an Australian couple who buy a riad in Fez, Morocco. Suzanna Clarke conveys the social, cultural, and religious mores of the people of Morocco and how she and her husband coped with these differences as they restored an old house to its former splendor. Clarke's description of Morocco is a rich tapestry of vibrant hues, exotic foods and smells, and a way of life that existed centuries ago.

[Karen Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why am I so fascinated by stories of people who move to other countries, restore houses there, and find their emotional homes? Clarke weaves Moroccan history, culture and customs into the adventure of buying and restoring her house. It is named Riad Zany after her childhood nickname, but it also seems apt to buying a house in a country where one doesn't speak the language.

[Willyf22 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look, from a Western point of view, into life in Morocco. The author and her husband bought a centuries-old house in the old city of Fez and remodeled. This tells the story of how they restored the old house, the people they met, and the junk they had to deal with. A really cool story. Makes me want to go visit.