The Road to Fez (Hardcover)

by Ruth Knafo Setton (Author) "DO YOU HAVE YOUR BLOOD YET? Zahra asks me..." (more)
Key Phrases: salon arabe, mimosa tree, Mama Ledicia, Papa Naphtali, Sun God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post
"Setton traces her protagonist's quests with style and vigor."

From Booklist
Brit Lek is 18. She has returned to her grandmother's house in Morocco from America, where she was raised, to fulfill her mother's dying wish, to visit the grave of Suleika, a Moroccan-Jewish girl, martyred in Fez. But the house has another refugee, Brit's uncle, Gaby, her mother's younger brother. Living as a recluse since the death of his wife, Gaby leaves his room only to work and pursue his love of sculpting in clay, but he captivates Brit with his intensity and his disregard for the fear and limitation that still define Moroccan-Jewish life in 1969. She becomes obsessed and pursues him, negotiating the narrow bridges between Jewish and Arab, ancient and modern, girlhood and adulthood, women and men. Setton gives us a glossary of Arabic and Judeo-Arabic terms and plunges into a world of living history that is both richly drawn and ornately decorated. Some of Setton's prose is purple, but most is turquoise blue and gold, shimmering with the intensity of a character aggressively seeking her own fulfillment. Sharon Greene
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint Press; First edition. edition (March 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582430829
• ISBN-13: 978-1582430829
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #833,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A passionate novel of love and self-discovery, March 19, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

18-year-old Brit Lek returns to Morocco to fulfil her mother's dying wish that she make a pilgrimage to Fez, visiting the grave of Suleika, a 19th century Jewish martyr revered by both Arabs and Jews. But she is distracted from her intentions when she falls in love with her mother's passionate, restless younger brother, Uncle Gaby -- who is also the town womanizer. Gaby tries to break free from the restrictions on his life as a Jew in Morocco by working with Arab potters and creating art that speaks a universal language. The Road To Fez is a passionate novel of love and self-discovery. Author Ruth Setton has a knack for bringing truly original characters to her splendidly engaging story that linger in the mind long after the novel is finished and set back upon the shelf.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, July 12, 2001

By A Customer

This novel is a fantastic collage of fragments of memory, desire, and loss. It is a miracle to me how Ruth Knafo Setton manages to convey so much in such a slim book. I think many contemporary writers could learn from her editing skills. With powerful precision, she introduces the reader to a vibrant Sephardic family in Morocco. Through this family, the reader feels the longing and pain of a forbidden love, delves into the mysteries of the brief, tragic life of a young girl, and explores issues of identity, exile, and home -- all described in dazzling language that brings to mind Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet and Cavafy's poetry. The story pulls you forward with suspense and intrigue, while the language holds you with its shimmering intensity. The questions the author raises about love and identity resonate after the last page is turned. I don't say this lightly or often, but I love this book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sirens call you to Fez, July 29, 2001

By	Priscilla Prisms (USA) - See all my reviews

If you've never been to Fez, you'll feel like you have after reading Ruth Knafo Setton's 'The Road to Fez'... She creates and successfully sustains an abstract atmosphere of tension and mystique throughout the story, all the while her descriptions of the land and its characters are so vivid and concrete they are almost tangible. The colors and the smells of a land and time so removed from ours, stick with you long after the last page is turned. Very shortly after starting her story, you'll become familiar with a way of life described so intimately, you are startled to remember that Brit, the main character, is actually not wholly of this magical place. Even Brit has to pull back from her daily experience to remember she has options to return to her former life in the US. The land and people are so real and intense that you, as a reader, will become part of it as well. If you hear the Sirens calling you to read this book, listen to them.!