Customer Reviews

The Red Moon: A Novel

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Hausley's "The Red Moon" is one of the best books I have read in a long time. If you ever wanted to know the difference between literature and fiction, you need to read this book; "The Red Moon" is literature at its finest. Hausley is an expert storyteller. Her writing is superb, lyrical and captivating. I picked this book up on a Saturday and finished it by Sunday night. Anyone who has fantasized about the African way of life will be smacked with a dose of reality. Nasarian, the main character, is strong woman, a feminist without being radical or negative.

I was surprised to learn that Hausley was not from Africa, but African-American, and that she knew very little about African culture. She was educated at the NY Performing Arts H.S. and Rutgers U and has captured Africa's landscape, its people and everyday life as if she had been born and raised there. My only criticism is that I would have liked the chapters from Nasarian's perspective and those from her father's perspective divided in some way. Other than that, I rarely say this about books but---"THIS is a great book!"

Nasarian is an outcast within her Kenyan tribe. She is even despised by several of her family members. Nasarian's only crime was being born to a Samburu father and his fourth wife, a Somalian. Considered a "half-breed" because of her Somalian blood and looked down upon because her mother was the last wife, Nasarian is however, shown great love and adoration from both her parents. Developing a sense of pride and independence from her mother, Nasarian continued to raise eyebrows within her community by choosing to be formally educated and refusing to be circumcised for marriage. Instead, Nasarian read books of poetry and dreamed of going off to far away places to become a writer. Soon her protective world crumbled around her. First her father dies leaving all the women in her family vulnerable to the actions and decisions of the males in the family. Then Nasarian's mother wills herself to death rather than be given away to one of her husband's cousins. Left alone and defenseless against those in her family who wish her ill will, Nasarian must leave her home and go live with her brutal elder brother.

Disgusted that she will not be circumcised therefore, forfeiting being married, Nasarian is given to a cousin to help raise his youngest daughter. Nasarian is forced to come face to face with the brutality of female circumcision when she watches helplessly as her young cousin is forced to endure the procedure, only to die soon after. Witnessing the tragic death pushes Nasarian further and further away from wanting to engage in the traditions of the Samburu. Now seeking a life she only dreamed of, she must endure further trials and tribulations to become the woman she wants to be.

RED MOON by Kuwana Hausley is a tale that is both heartbreaking and triumphant. RED MOON speaks volumes of the brutal tradition of female circumcision. In Nasarian it also gives a feminist approach to the topic. Hausley brings the Kenyan countryside to life for her readers. The contrast between the modern world and the ancient traditions of the tribes are strikingly displayed. Nasarian plight as well as those of all the women in the novel, tugs at the heart strings. The traditional tribal ways subject the women to a status of nothing greater than third class citizens. It is shocking that in this day and age much of the world has yet to catch up to the ideal of equal rights for women.

Reviewed by L. Raven James
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

The book was well-written, for the most part, but i was repulsed by the portray of a society which punishes thievery with death, but placidly stands by when watching a man beating the living lights out of a woman, "his" woman. It is true that children love parents that abuse them, women refuse to leave the men that abuse them, but i just couldn't see any redeeming qualities on the Samburu. I know the author tried to portray them in a favorable light, but there are some things where no compromise is acceptable.

This would be a fabulous novel for a book club, because it can be so controversial.