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Split My Heart
Damascus 1945 wars are coming to an end, empires are collapsing & as the Arab population rise against their French rulers, Marina arrives in the city with her husband Paul but when Marina discovers Paul is having an affair three lives spiral into emotional crisis, jealousy & betrayal.
247 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 8, 2024
(corrected to read better - July 2024)
A particular fine early novel from an author who is now enjoying, in the UK, the success and recognition he clearly deserves. That this novel is out of print and virtually unobtainable, in English, is one of those scandalous idiocies that current publishing is rife with.
Like all novels I really love it is hard to know what to say except that it is beautifully written, intelligent, compelling and utterly absorbing. It is also an exceptionally fine historical novel and, in my limited knowledge, extremely sensitive and accurate in its portrayal of setting, time and character. No attempt is made to make any of the characters more palatable by updating their actions or feelings. There are no retrospective idiocies in this novel. The triangular relationship at its core between Paul Esmond, his wife Marina and his lover Sulayman is deeply true and moving. But then everything in the novel is stunningly true, in particular the Damascus of 1945 (I don't want to appear boastful but having read James Barr's excellent 'A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East' I thought Neil Blackmore handled the history with exceptional finesse and truth).
I love the way Paul Esmond is allowed to be such a selfish, weak and completely self centred shit, yet you can't help feeling for him and liking him even though, no doubt, he was in most ways despicable to our current ways of thinking. His wife Marina is a brilliant creation and I particularly loved the subtle portrayal of how class and privilege were not simply advantages but also a trap for those like her born and raised within that milieu and how frightening the social exile divorce would be for someone like her.
If there is a weakness and it is a slight one, it is within the character of Sulayman because he doesn't fit easily into any understandable category, either for 1945 Damascus or nowadays. Although accurately, for the time, Sulayman is not presented as, nor does he see himself as a 'homosexual' he does see that Paul is one and no doubt Paul sees himself as one, though wishing he wasn't. Sulayman sees his relationship with Paul, to begin with, as an adventure, even a bit of fun, but when Paul says he is in love with Sulayman it becomes complicated because we know, no matter what he says, that Paul will always place his marriage and career first. Love is just another snare on the path to getting what he wants. But what does Sulayman want and what did he imagine, hope, believe that Paul's statement of love for him could mean?
I don't want anyone to imagine that any of this means I think less of this novel or that I regard it as flawed. In a sense the very quality of the novel and its compelling and absorbing storyline and character mean I can't help thinking, still, of the characters and events.
A brilliant novel, a wonderful evocation of time and place - if you can get hold of this novel do so - if you can't then explore Neil Blackmore's other, more recent, novels. I intend to do so but I am delighted I have begun with this fine beautiful novel.
A particular fine early novel from an author who is now enjoying, in the UK, the success and recognition he clearly deserves. That this novel is out of print and virtually unobtainable, in English, is one of those scandalous idiocies that current publishing is rife with.
Like all novels I really love it is hard to know what to say except that it is beautifully written, intelligent, compelling and utterly absorbing. It is also an exceptionally fine historical novel and, in my limited knowledge, extremely sensitive and accurate in its portrayal of setting, time and character. No attempt is made to make any of the characters more palatable by updating their actions or feelings. There are no retrospective idiocies in this novel. The triangular relationship at its core between Paul Esmond, his wife Marina and his lover Sulayman is deeply true and moving. But then everything in the novel is stunningly true, in particular the Damascus of 1945 (I don't want to appear boastful but having read James Barr's excellent 'A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East' I thought Neil Blackmore handled the history with exceptional finesse and truth).
I love the way Paul Esmond is allowed to be such a selfish, weak and completely self centred shit, yet you can't help feeling for him and liking him even though, no doubt, he was in most ways despicable to our current ways of thinking. His wife Marina is a brilliant creation and I particularly loved the subtle portrayal of how class and privilege were not simply advantages but also a trap for those like her born and raised within that milieu and how frightening the social exile divorce would be for someone like her.
If there is a weakness and it is a slight one, it is within the character of Sulayman because he doesn't fit easily into any understandable category, either for 1945 Damascus or nowadays. Although accurately, for the time, Sulayman is not presented as, nor does he see himself as a 'homosexual' he does see that Paul is one and no doubt Paul sees himself as one, though wishing he wasn't. Sulayman sees his relationship with Paul, to begin with, as an adventure, even a bit of fun, but when Paul says he is in love with Sulayman it becomes complicated because we know, no matter what he says, that Paul will always place his marriage and career first. Love is just another snare on the path to getting what he wants. But what does Sulayman want and what did he imagine, hope, believe that Paul's statement of love for him could mean?
I don't want anyone to imagine that any of this means I think less of this novel or that I regard it as flawed. In a sense the very quality of the novel and its compelling and absorbing storyline and character mean I can't help thinking, still, of the characters and events.
A brilliant novel, a wonderful evocation of time and place - if you can get hold of this novel do so - if you can't then explore Neil Blackmore's other, more recent, novels. I intend to do so but I am delighted I have begun with this fine beautiful novel.
October 25, 2012
1945 Marina Esmond arrives in Damascus to join her husband Paul (a colonial administrator), and discovers that he's having an affair with his Arab researcher Sulayman !! An interesting read with many thought provoking themes.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews