Leïla Slimani

This book is precisely what the front cover announces - a personal recount of women's experiences in Morocco in regard to sexuality.

There were no surprises here. The stories we read about are hard to comprehend from a "western" perspective. Sadly, they got repetitive rather quickly with a narrative that seemed to have been pushed onto this to prove a point. I expected more variety in this book, maybe even some positive tales. However, this is not that type of book.

Slimani rightly calls out the hypocrisy of a society oscillating between sexual fantasies and disgust when it comes to sexuality, where religion always has the final word. The obsession with virginity is the norm, while men are among the highest consumers of pornography in the world.

But, more interestingly Slimani says that as long as you are rich you are free, above these laws and mores. Sadly, that seems true for women wherever they are in this world.… (mais)

Written by author of “Lullaby” this is story of a young French woman who falls in love with a Moroccan soldier who is part of the liberating force in her village. Wanting to escape restricted village life she joins her husband in his native country. From then on she learns both how different the country and the role (options for) women is. Tempted not to return after a visit to her father’s funeral in France, she commits to her new life. In the Moroccan background the nationalist movement is growing in strength and violent action. Although trying to largely ignore what is going on around them, they are drawn in. As I read, I wondered if the family might be destroyed by the tumult around them, but the novel ends with them looking out on the impending chaos.… (mais)