From a Crooked Rib [Paperback]

This slim novel by Somali writer Farah was originally published in 1970 but fell out of print until the widespread acclaim of his "Blood in the Sun" trilogy in the late '90s. Written in 1968, the book is set during the months leading up to Somalia's independence in 1960. Like a great deal of postcolonial African fiction available in translation, its primary theme is the role of women in society. The story is written from the perspective of Ebla (perhaps so named because at the time of the writing in 1968, Italian archeologists had just identified the site of ancient city of the same name in Syria), an 18-year-old nomad woman who flees her rural settlement when she learns of her impending marriage to a middle-aged man. In doing so, she is spurning the traditional values of her culture -- perhaps foreshadowing for the societal changes that will come with independence and modernity.

Sneaking out of her hut in the wee hours, she flees without a plan, leaving her brother and grandfather behind. Her first stop is a small town (although quite large and bewildering to her), where she stays with a distant cousin. There, she cares for her cousin's pregnant wife and makes the acquaintance of a confident woman next door. Drawn into smuggling by her cousin and alerted to his plan to sell her off as a bride, she flees again, this time to Mogadishu with the nephew of the neighbor. Here, life is even more confusing, as she becomes his bride. When he leaves for several months training in Italy, she must rely on another self-sufficient older woman in her building. She somewhat passively reacts to this abandonment by allowing herself to be propelled into the arms of yet another man, who pays her for the distinction of becoming his "wife".

The cultural mechanics of all this are somewhat confusing to the non-native reader and a certain amount of annotation would certainly help this almost 40-year-old book. For example, some background on the quasi-Islamic practice of informal "temporary" marriages at the time would provide some much-needed context for some of Ebla's actions. So while the broad theme of Ebla's treatment as just another "beast" or "cattle" subject to the whim of the men around her is evident, I suspect there's a good deal of nuance that lost along the way. Written when Farah was only in his early 20s, the English prose is rather awkward and makes for choppy reading. While certainly of interest to those interested in feminism in Africa, those seeking a more accessible introduction to Farah's work might be better off trying his more recent novels, Links and Knots, which are set in Mogadishu during and after the American peacekeeping efforts in the early '90s.

Written 40 years ago, this early novel from Somali writer Nuruddin Farah tells of an independent but uneducated young woman who leaves her tribe rather than marry a man she does not care for and flees to a life in town - first a rural center called Belet Wene and then to the city of Mogadishu. It is near the time of Somalia's independence from Italy, and her unsophisticated and limited grasp of what independence means for her may well represent the author's vision of Somalia, about to steer its own course in the modern world - a path that has led, as we know, to much political and economic discord.

Ebla, the central character, takes shelter first with a cousin, whose wife gives birth to a child in the first days of her arrival. In spite of her independence, Ebla often permits herself to be guided by decisions others make for her, which is much of the time. As a result, she marries a man she has met only once, and while her first husband is away for several months, she marries another man, who is himself already married (permissible for him in a Muslim culture) but to a battle-ax of a woman who thoroughly intimidates him.

In a picaresque style that varies between comedy and melodrama, the story focuses in passing on the conditions of being female in Somalia where, created from the "crooked rib" of Adam, a woman counts in Muslim law as only half a person, marriages are arranged for them, female circumcision is common, and only a clever, worldly woman can achieve a hard-won independence from dominance by men.

I have recently been interested in reading books from North Africa and the Middle East, both fiction/non-fiction, and this book was no disappointment for me. I enjoyed the snapshots into the culture of the region and the language was able to evoke great imagery during my reading of this. I lent this to my mother while she was visiting and she also lapped it up, we have very different tastes in literature, so I can see how this would reach a great audience. It can also be a great course book, this is how we used it, to open discussion on independence, freedom, and democratic values.

Great book

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