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Zabelle Hardcover – January 1, 1998
by
Nancy Kricorian
(Author)
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Nancy Kricorian
(Author)
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Print length237 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherAtlantic Monthly Pr
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Publication dateJanuary 1, 1998
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Dimensions6.25 x 1 x 8.5 inches
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ISBN-100871137054
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ISBN-13978-0871137050
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Zabelle Chahasbanian, the seventysomething matriarch of an Armenian-American family, is dead. Her children gather to plan her funeral. What was special about Ma, they wonder. It is clear that at least they know nothing of the extraordinary life of this "ordinary" woman, her struggles and her dreams. They do not know much of the annihilation of her family in her homeland during her childhood or of her survival and emigration to the United States as the bride of a man she had only seen in a photograph. They know only the barest facts about her friendship with Arsinee, a spunky, irreverent woman who was Zabelle's lifelong mainstay. They know nothing of her poignant romance with a man named Moses. So what was special about Ma? Plenty. This first novel is a tender portrait of family, friendship, and love. Highly recommended.?Kay Hogan, Univ. of Alabama Lib., Birmingham
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The rhythm of folktale and family stories shared around the table infuse the telling of Zabelle Chahasbanian's life. The story begins near her death in Watertown, Massachusetts, and circles back to her Armenian childhood in 1916, the slaughter of the rest of her family by the Turks, and her journey from orphanage to arranged marriage to immigration to the U.S. These bare bones are hung upon a lovely structure of symbols and stories: how Zabelle came by her tin cup, her silver thimble, and a small blue brooch; how she survived a vicious mother-in-law, a secret love, and three children who could not understand her life even in their dreams. The coda, the fairy-tale meeting of Zabelle's own parents with no foreshadowing of their tragic end, comes to the reader as a gift. Although it is not quite so strong as similar titles like Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior (1976) or Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991), Kricorian's novel is sure to delight readers of those titles. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
From Kirkus Reviews
Poet Kricorian's first novel offers a tender but thin portrait of an orphaned Armenian woman who starts over again in America but has a life there as mother, wife, and grandmother that's steeped in sorrow. In 1916, her father is lined up with the other men in town and shot by the Turks; soon after, Zabelle loses the rest of her family on a forced march into the Syrian desert. She survives, is placed in an orphanage, then later is handed over to a wealthy Turkish family as a servant. A chance encounter, though, allows her to be claimed by her own people, and she blossoms into a lovely young woman as part of a wealthy Armenian household. Her adopted family arranges a good marriage for her, and soon she's arriving on Ellis Island with her mother-in-law-to-be, ready to begin a new life. Not long after, however, her Bible-thumping husband Toros proves less than doting as he defers to his mother, who runs their household in Watertown, Massachusetts, with thinly veiled contempt for Zabelle. Meanwhile, Zabelle herself, pregnant with their first child, has fallen in love with a man she's met at the shirtmaking factory where she works. She squelches her feelings, though, resigning herself to motherhood and her unhappy marriage. Two more children follow; years later, the older son leaves home to attend missionary college, hears a voice telling him to have his nose changed surgically, and thereby severs his family ties--unlike Jack and Joy, who stay nearby when they grow up, offering some comfort to their mother. Zabelle's burden is eased further when her mother-in- law finally fails to wake up one morning. But when widowhood arrives after 44 strained years of marriage, there's no relief-- only sadness. Zabelle's childhood is the most fully embroidered section here, with all that follows offering only flashes of insight into the full complexity of character and family that Kricorian might have made far more rich and real. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Nancy Kricorian has taught at Yale, Columbia, and Barnard.
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Product details
- Publisher : Atlantic Monthly Pr; 1st edition (January 1, 1998)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 237 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0871137054
- ISBN-13 : 978-0871137050
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1 x 8.5 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#2,286,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #107,290 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #188,755 in American Literature (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
28 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2015
Verified Purchase
A moving and articulate portrait of a archetypical Armenian woman transplanted to the USA in her youth. The suffering endured by the Armenians by the Turkish government has been told before, but never enough. As a fictional memoir (although surely based on a real or a composite of actual real women) it portrays the strength of character of a people who have survived centuries of persecution and a world-wide diaspora. This book dares to examine the triumphs of their spirit while not shying away from examining intra-cultural cruelties inflicted by arcane concepts of family life, as imported from the middle east. Both the women and the men are warped by biblical era role models of society which hopefully will not be passed on to future generations. Preserving the good, while rejecting the repugnant, is a major challenge to immigrant groups in the multi-cultural climate of this blessed country. Understanding the challenge from the view of one person has more power than hours of detached theoretical pontificating . Ms. Kricorian has rendered a real service in this regard. It is not only educational but very well written and readable. I have recommended it to both my Armenian and non-Armenian friends.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
This isn't just a tale of the Armenian holocaust, it's
a tale of a survivor, an immigrant's struggle to fit in,
in America. If there are two forms of annihilation,
genocide and assimilation, Zabelle experiences both;
perhaps her son Moses's repudiation of his Armenian
heritage is, in the end, the more painful of the two.
Still, Zabelle faces her problems - near starvation, life
as an orphan and a servant, an unloving husband, an
horrific mother-in-law - with wit and humour, and has
a unique voice in American fiction. The virtue of this
book is that it not only makes you cry, but it makes you
laugh out loud. I've read it a few times, and savor it
more every time. I think of Jewish holocaust survivor
who, while he still sobbed decades later to recall the
horrors, also had to crack a joke about how he and his
friends played their death camp tattoos as lottery numbers.
You never know what horrors and struggles people are hiding
behind their laughter.
a tale of a survivor, an immigrant's struggle to fit in,
in America. If there are two forms of annihilation,
genocide and assimilation, Zabelle experiences both;
perhaps her son Moses's repudiation of his Armenian
heritage is, in the end, the more painful of the two.
Still, Zabelle faces her problems - near starvation, life
as an orphan and a servant, an unloving husband, an
horrific mother-in-law - with wit and humour, and has
a unique voice in American fiction. The virtue of this
book is that it not only makes you cry, but it makes you
laugh out loud. I've read it a few times, and savor it
more every time. I think of Jewish holocaust survivor
who, while he still sobbed decades later to recall the
horrors, also had to crack a joke about how he and his
friends played their death camp tattoos as lottery numbers.
You never know what horrors and struggles people are hiding
behind their laughter.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2015
Verified Purchase
Terrific story of Turkey and the genocide of Armenians. You get a beautiful idea of what Armenian culture was like before they were slaughtered and turned out to the desert of Syria to starve. Then, you go to America with the survivors. She is a good writer.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2014
Verified Purchase
I chose this book on the recommendation of an Armenian friend and would especially recommend it to second and third generation Armenians of the Diaspora and to people who ever heard of the Armenian Genocide. I heard stories from my grandparent's generation of the atrocities of the genocide but haven't repeated/remembered all the surrounding issues . This book puts a lot of context into what my grandparent's generation had to suffer without the extreme bloody blow by blow description that other chroniclers of the genocide have published.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book was full of so many different emotional levels. I believe there are many of these stories to be found all over the world in Armenian families. Tragedy, stoicism, anguish, bravery, dignity, and love. Thank you Nancy Kricorian.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
A good story, easy to read. A sharing of the life of a women, not in control of her destiny.
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
A good one! Reads very fast and easy.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
Such a beautifully written, but sad story. Bought this for my mom, and she couldn't put the book down. Looking forward to buying more Kricorian novels.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries
HELAINE CORBER
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Stirring Account of a Young Girl's Survival Through The Armenian Genocide of 1915
Reviewed in Canada on November 5, 2015Verified Purchase
This book is a wonderful account of a young girl's story through the 1915 Armenian genocide .Her survival and growth in the aftermath is recounted to us in an absolutely incredible tale of trials and tribulations which Zabelle must endure. The people she meets,the family she will come to raise and her innermost passions and introspections all make this a very special "Read".
Silva Melkonian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 31, 2015Verified Purchase
I read this beautiful book in five hours.could not put it down.simply beautiful!
Highly rated by customers
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