Wild Mulberries

by Iman Humaydan, Michelle Hartman (Translator)

Sarah is on the brink of adulthood in her village in the mountains of Lebanon in the 1930s, a world itself hesitating on the verge of change. Her father the shaykh is uninterested in anything but the silkworms he's always raised, no matter that each year they're worth less. Her conservative aunt worries only about the family's reputation, fearing that Sarah will take after her mother, who ran away twelve years ago and has been unheard of since. Sarah's brother dreams of going abroad, but each year finds himself still trapped in the family business. Around her the village--Druze and Christian, Lebanese and English--grows poorer, its traditions no longer able to sustain it. Sarah's hopes for the future have come to rely either on marriage, or finding the mother she can't remember.

In Humaydan's textured, lyrical prose, the story of one young woman's coming of age becomes a meditation on a nation's hardship, on home and freedom, hope and loss. Younes brings to intense life this lost world and the women at its center, whose lives have disappeared from history, from their own grasp.

Genres: Fiction, Lebanon, Historical Fiction, Contemporary

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Born in 1956, Iman Humaydan studied sociology at the American University in Beirut. She is a writer, anthropologist and journalist and has a weekly column in the Lebanese newspaper Assafir. Her novels have been translated into English, French, German, Italian and Dutch.

Reviews

[ნინო კერესელიძე · Rating 5 out of 5]

მიწის სუნი მასზე ცუდად მოქმედებსო, ვკითხულობ შეიხის ერთჯერადად, დაუფიქრებლად წამოსროლილ სიტყვებს და თითქოს გონებაში ქარი ამოქროლდება, შემოდგომის ყვითელ-ყავისფერ-წითელი ფოთლებივით მიმოფანტავს ამბის პატარ-პატარა, მყარად თუ მკრთალად დამახსოვრებულ ნაწილებს და ერთად შეკრავს..
სარა დედის პოვნის სურვილის სიმძიმეს დაატარებს გულით მთელი ცხოვრება, თუმცა რაღაც დროის შემდეგ, მკითხველიც პერსონაჟთან ერთად აცნობიერებს, რომ ეს უფრო მეტად საკუთარი თავის, საკუთარი სულის ძიების რთული პროცესია, რომელსაც ვერც ჰარაში და ვერც ინგლისში ვერ იპოვის, ის მასშია, საკუთარ გადანახულს ეძებს და შორს არ უნდა წავიდეს..
რაღაც ადგილიდან გაქცევის სურვილი როგორც არ უნდა გიპყრობდეს, როგორც არ უნდა გესახებოდეს გაქცევა წუხილისგან მთავარ გამოსავლად, ჭრილობების მთავარ მალამოდ, დარდსა და ტკივილს სადაც წახვალ მუდამ თან დაატარებ და გაქცევის მცდელობაც ამაოდ ჩაივლის...
გაქცევის, ჩაკეტილი წრის გარღვევის მოჭარბებულმა სურვილმა, რომელსაც არა მხოლოდ სარას არსებაში, ასევე მისი ძმის არსებაშიც ღრმად გაუდგამს ფესვები, ქანაფანის “კაცები მზეში” გამახსენა, ასევე “სევდიანი ფორთოხლების მიწაც”, როცა შეიხი ამბობს, რომ მიწის გადაყვარება ნიადაგის დაავადებას იწვევს. იბრაჰიმის და შამსის ამბავმა ბაჰა ტაჰირის დეიდა საფიას ცხოვრებისეული სევდა ხელახლა განმაცდევინა..
და ულამაზესია, არ ვიცი, უთქმელად ლამაზი და მოუბეზრებლად საკითხავი, თავად გარემოს და სიტუაციების აღწერაც კი. მყუდროა, ჰარაში მოფუსფუსე, აბრეშუმის ჭიის პარკებზე მზრუნველი და დაუღლელი ადამიანები თავიანთი ისტორიებით გულის სიღრმემდე აღწევენ..
“შესაძლოა, ბუნება ცრუობს და ყველაფერს რეალობისგან განსხვავებულად გვიჩვენებს. შესაძლოა, რაც ჩვენს შორის ხდება იმაზე ვერაფერი დაფუძნდება და მხოლოდ მშვენიერი ეფემერული ღრუბელია. არ ვიცი. რაც ვიცი, მხოლოდ ისაა რომ ჩვენი ცხოვრების უცნაურობები რეალობად იქცევა, ჩვენ ვიღებთ მას და ვცხოვრობთ მისით.”
და უნაკლო თარგმანია..

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lebanese Where the Crawdads Sing. By which I mean it's about a girl who's mother has disappeared sometime long ago in her youth and she is surrounded by other people who dream of getting out whilst her father is increasingly not great. In all other ways this is quite different. Very slow paced but also lots of time skips which aren't necessarily marked by chapter ends etc. It really gives a sense of time stretching out and so much waiting. My main issue, which is I think just a personal preference thing, is that nothing really happened. I've read plenty of books where nothing happens and I always find them a bit dull, so this book is not by any means a bad book because of it, it's just I prefer more oomf to them. I do think this book captures the feeling of being stuck and no matter what you do you always end up exactly where you started.

[Crazytourists_books · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quite interesting book. The author manages to create a deeply melancholic atmosphere; sadness and loneliness are dominant throughout the book. As I said, quite interesting and different.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The inability to complete the circle, in the absence of a mother.

The unwillingness to be bound by and to a mother others own.

So many women; no mothers.

Finally, one gives birth to one's mother.


The story causes me to reflect quite a bit. On her mother's passing, faced with a life of serving a house full of men and caring for an orphaned infant, my great grandmother's elder sister took her father's fortune and absconded to Australia, never to be heard from again. Motherlessness has reverberated down four generations.

Wild Mulberries spoke both to this tangible personal experience and to the motherlessness facing us all in this age: abandoning and abandoned by the old ways of being a woman, leaving so many of us bereft of mothers for the world and times we now face. History does not have the answer; we must give birth to our own mothers.

The story is so spare, to give any details is to give too much away.

[Yas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up at random in a charity shop browse. An interesting read that really encompassed the sense of life slipping past you and being lost within your own loneliness.

[Serri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was selected by my book club and reminds me of something I would have read in a literature class. It is about a girl growing up in the mountains of Lebanon in the 1930s being raised by her father. While hard to get into at first it grabbed your attention about 30 pages in and was beautifully written. However, I was unsatisfied with the ending. It ended rather flat and was a bit confusing. Still there will be plenty to talk about in a book club discussion.

[Lily Hammond · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought that the first few chapters were beautifully written and really captured the atmosphere of the novel but the story did not have a lasting impact on me as I found the ending abrupt and I can't really remember what happened even though I only finished it a few weeks ago.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started out as a 3 for me, but after sticking with it it moved into 4 territory. The words move slow just like the village, yet I didn't find it boring, more relaxing.

[Alethia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those that you really have to reread. The first time... well, it's been like peering through the fog. You can grasp the general shape of everything, but there's still a lot missing. The writing's not very verbose. The book is only 120 pages and things move quickly, people changing in mainly bad ways. I think that everyone started with a hope or dream, and by the end, regardless of whether or not they obtained it, they were all unhappy. I guess you could say this is a rainy day read--a book for exploring emptiness. I'll read it again, maybe next year. Hopefully I grasp a little more of what she's saying.

[Suzammah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully told coming of age and finding identity tale.

[Mira Tabsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a nice book that I enjoyed. I read it in almost one-sitting, and it reminded me of my childhood summer days in the village.