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Stolz, Joëlle.The Shadows of Ghadames. Translated by Catherine Temerson. New York: Random House, Inc, 2004. ISBN 0385731043
2. Plot Summary
Eleven-year-old Malika lives in nineteenth century Ghadames, a city located in southern Libya near the borders of Algeria and Tunisia. She is nearly 12 years old, which means she is almost old enough to be married. As she is coming of age, she is discovering the beauty of what her new age will hold, as well as mourning the freedom she leaves behind in her childhood. In Ghadames there are two separate worlds - one for men and one for women. Women in Ghadames spend their days on the rooftops, which are “like a city above the city, an open, sunny town for women only, where they walk about, lead their own lives, visit one another, and never talk to men.” Malika knows that as a married woman she will be confined to the rooftops, but she is learning to be content with that. Throughout her experiences in this book - from her father’s travel to taking a strange man into her home who teaches her how to read, Malika’s eyes are opened to the world and to cultures beyond Ghadames.
3. Critical Analysis
Joëlle Stolz allows readers to see nineteenth century Ghadames through the eyes of 11-year-old Malika. She uses the unique combination of childlike innocence and curiosity to relate details about the separate lives of Muslim men and women in this small town in Libya. Rarely would a reader - someone from a different culture - get such insight into the lives of these women. Stolz portrays them accurately, showing their contentedness and even joy to live separately from men, up on the rooftops, rather than imprisonment and confinement as our culture would often have us believe.
Stolz portrays the communal and familial relationships of the Libyan culture in her book. There is a great sense of community among women. They live on the rooftops together - seemingly all as one big family. They know each other’s lives so well that the slightest difference in routine would attract attention. When Malika and her family were trying to hide the fact that Abdelkarim was hiding in their food pantry, Malika’s mother wouldn’t dare enter the pantry. “For here, without seeming to, every woman watches the others and someone may be surprised to see us prowling around the food pantry.”
The Muslim culture is portrayed well by Stolz in her depiction of women. Women who are of age do not leave the home unless they are veiled, and women of “high birth” do not leave the home at all. Women are not to learn Arabic, which is a struggle that Malika has throughout the book. She wants to learn to read Arabic, but her mother doesn’t want her to, saying that men would not want to marry a woman who knows how to read and write. Stolz shows that in this culture women are not equal to men. When Abdelkarim is told he must dress up as a woman to safely leave Malika’s home, he says, “What about my dignity? It’s out of the question, I’ll never agree! I’d rather die.” However, through teaching Malika Arabic and hearing conversations of women on the rooftop, Abdelkarim comes to see that “the world of women is not as stupid as [he] thought.”
Stolz also portrays the culture of this small town in Libya through her talk about wives. Many men have two wives - the wife at home and the “wife from the journey.” This results in people with two colors of skin - dark skin from the wife from the south, and light skin from the wife at home. Light skin is thought to be more beautiful. Malika’s mother is her father’s first wife, of high birth, but Bilkusu is her father’s “wife from the journey.” Malika loves Bilkusu and prefers to spend time with her over her mother. Because of her low birth she leaves the home more often, and she often takes Malika with her.
Throughout the novel, Malika’s eyes are opened to the world beyond Ghadames. She says, “It had never occurred to me before then that there were people who lived differently from us.” In the end of the book, when her father brings back gifts from his journey to Istanbul, showing Turkish culture, Malika realizes how much more of the world there is beyond Ghadames. She say, “Ghadames, which seemed huge to me till now, is actually tiny - a few dried-mud houses surrounded by palm trees.” She comes away with a desire to travel and see the world, something completely out of the ordinary for a woman in her culture.
Stolz’s novel captured my attention from the beginning. My husband and I lived in Turkey for almost three years. During that time I got to live among women in a Muslim culture and see their lives for what they really are - not what our media and culture says they are. In my opinion, Stolz mostly depicts women accurately. While it might be a sad transition from girlhood to womanhood, women love their lives indoors. It is not burdensome and does not deprive them of freedom for them to not leave the home. To them it is more beautiful that way, and Stolz portrays those thoughts accurately, especially in the character of Malika’s mother.
4. Review Excerpts
From BOOKLIST (December 1, 2004): "The vivid backdrop is intoxicating, but the story's universal concerns will touch readers most: sibling jealousy, confusion about adult customs, and a growing interest in a world beyond family."
From KIRKUS (October 1, 2004): "Setting her tale at the end of the 19th century, Stolz not only weaves the sights, sounds, and daily rhythms of life in Ghadames into a vivid tapestry, she creates a cast of distinct characters, each of which displays a unique blend of strengths and weaknesses, as well as sometimes unexpected intelligence and compassion. "
5. Connections
Read books similar to The Shadows of Ghadames such as:
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. ISBN 9781554987658
Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi. ISBN 9780439135238
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. ISBN 9780307977885
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