3.7 (57 ratings) Try for $0.00. Eight Months On Ghazzah Street type Book genre Fiction Thirtyish cartographer Frances Shore knew that "women's decisions did not operate" in fundamentalist Islamic Saudi Arabia, where she. She had lived alone before they met; for three nights in succession, he had sat by himself, seemingly disconsolate, on a corner stool in the bar of an expatriate club, not even looking her way, but concentrating hard; until she had asked him to go home with her. When in the store with your husband the clerks will only speak with him, as you, the wife, don't exist. Having lived in Saudi Arabia, I was excited to read this book and 'compare notes' with Mantel. You check in, and Ill look after you, and he can come and find you in the morning., Oh, Im sure hell be there, she said. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street: A Novel Paperback - September 1, 2003 by Hilary Mantel (Author) 368 ratings 3.6 on Goodreads 2,594 ratings Kindle $11.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover $70.17 5 Used from $66.17 Paperback $14.99 16 Used from $6.10 13 New from $13.37 Audio CD $19.46 2 New from $19.46 : You could only describe the future by exclusion; say what will not occur. The press reports had left an image in peoples minds: of lazy, glitzy, transient lives, of hard liquor and easy money, of amoral people turned scared and sour. It happened that at the time when Andrew Shore was ready to move on, Turadups Saudi Arabian manager, a man called Eric Parsons, was in Johannesburg trawling for expertise. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. He leaned over her seat. She's in my head!". Sit by the pool, play the fruit machines, bugger all else to do. He paused, the tirade halted by a scruple of politeness. I didn't, but once I started reading the book, I thought "Holy Smokes! The prose is well written and evokes the claustrophobic atmosphere of a fundamentalist Muslim country like Saudi Arabia. Was that where you lived?, Well no, actually, we lived in a much smaller place. Our rep in Riyadh, he lives there, he should know. This book creeps up on you. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street Hilary Mantel 3.65 2,621 ratings340 reviews Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, a maker of maps, but when her husband's work takes her to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map the Kingdom's areas of internal darkness. I really do wonder how Fairfax is doing in Kowloon, dont you? Well be beginning our descent in half an hour. Andrew bit his lip. I shall try to like it. Jeff Pollard was a sometime employee of Turadup, William and Schaper, a firm known throughout the construction business as Throwem Up, Billem and Scarper. Also upstairs is a strangely active "empty" apartment which offers the mystery of the story. They operated over the South African border too, putting up a much-needed casino in a bantustan. Already it felt further; watches moved on, a day in a life condensed to a scramble at a check-in desk, a walk to a departure gate; a day cut short and eclipsed, hurtling on into advancing night. Something went wrong. The city of Jeddah is steeped in darkness and changes too often to be caught on paper, while as a Western woman in this culture, she is both objectified and invisible. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street A Novel. You could never plan on being anywhere by a set time., And there was never any sugar. Onward. I dont believe they should ever have sent him. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (1988) is the third novel by English author Dame Hilary Mantel, who won the Man Booker Prize in 2009 and 2012. eight months on ghazzah street ending. Air-conditioning is universal. Hed have found it strange from three paces, never mind three thousand miles. Mantel was so masterful in evoking a suffocating environment that the suspense soa(u)red halfway into claustrophobia.The setting is super fascinating to me but I felt as if Mantel was just zooming in and out with the binocular without ever losing the blur. SHORE. So much smoked salmon is consumed on aircraft that it is a wonder there is any left to eat at ground level. Andrew first poured himself a brandy; then he sat for some time and regarded the phone in their bungalow, like a man in a trance, or a man praying. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime. Souvenir. I was completely drawn in by her story and everything that happens to her as she attempts to adapt to life in Saudia Arabia. The author, Hilary Mantel, lived there herself for five years, so the reader can place some trust in her description of life there. Noon can very well be at twelve-thirty. Its idolatry. The man stared at her. Theyre doubling my salary, he said flatly. Drifting, she caught bits of their conversation: jargon, catchphrases. autious sorts who suspect that it's a bad idea to venture beyond one's own garden gate will find their prudence amply confirmed by ''Eight. The author herself lived in Jeddah for four years under not dissimilar circumstances and so the extremely unappealing depiction of the city, its inhabi. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Oh, they said he could have them back, when the customs had had a careful look. But we cant go togetherI have to be in the Kingdom before theyll grant you a visa. Andrew thought that, once, someone might have offered him a bribe; but through the other partys ineptitude and poor English, and Andrews naivete, the occasion had passed without profit. Its not a page-turner. Learn more about the program. Excerpt. British citizen Frances Shore accompanies her husband to his new job in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If you like that sort of thing. He turned away, back to his companion. However, the writing is superb, in the way that it describes the oppressive heat and stultifying boredom of life for an ex-patriot wife in a regime that she just cannot begin to comprehend. They go through everything, he told her. And by the time you get out to Jeddah, well be fixed up with a house, and everything will be ready for you.. bbc, radio program, hilary mantel - eight months on ghazzah street, musical trios, architectural elements, west ham united f.c. I think theyve got rules now that they all have to be locked in their own quarters by nine at night. Are you sure that this is the right thing to do? she said. In the kitchen their housemaid, Elizabeth, was washing glassespointless really as they would soon be crated upand they could hear the separate clink that each one made as she put it down on the drain board. No Place For A WomanOr For A Man Either, Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2004. Besides, the streets are never in the same place for more than a few weeks together., Certainly do. You cant lose by it.. Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins. When Frances Shore moves to Saudi Arabia, she settles in a nondescript sublet, sure that common sense and an open mind will serve her well with her Muslim neighbors. Set in Saudi Arabia during the boom created by soaring oil prices in the 1980s, this sinuously crafted tale by Hawthorndon Award winner Mantel (for An Experiment in Love) uses the outsider status. It had not escaped her notice that women were always using mens Christian names, but that men only did it when there was something in the offing: a rebuke, a plea. She did not just describe the physical aspects of the country, she was able to put me back in that time and place and make me remember the confusion, the low-grade fear, the suspicion, the boredom, the frustration, the intrigue. Got a husband out there?, Quick work, the steward said. His voice on the phone had been hesitant. . We used to go up to Gaborone for a bit of excitement., You poor things, thats all I can say. Sure on that brandy? the steward said; and moved away. But her tone wrapped up the conversation. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. Although it takes place several decades ago, it reads as if it were happening today. Drinks were free of course, but on the Saudi run this standard airline ploy had the status of charity work. No Import Fees Deposit & $9.95 Shipping to Germany. They told her to bring flat sandals, British postage stamps, a bottle of Bovril. To see what your friends thought of this book, Not an answer, but kudos on your sharp eyes! He swayed toward her with the pot. , ISBN-13 And on that dayalways described by Andrew as the day I ran slap-bang into Pollardthe relevant phone number was handed over, and their future was set in train. Oh, look, am I to pack these? She held out a candlestick, one of a pair from a local pottery, rough, heavy, unglazed. Seconds later he was speaking to Eric Parsons, at his hotel. eight months on ghazzah street ending. The streets are not a woman's territory; confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self begin to dissolve. Im just doing a final drinks round. When the Shores were leaving Africa there had been a lot of people like Jeff around, doing their recruiting in golf-club bars. We work hard to protect your security and privacy. ASIN Things always start off as being relatively straight forward and obvious in the mind but the maze of thoughts and ideas that Mantel always seems to present takes you to a place that one could never have imagined at the start of the book. Could the man be right, she wondered, had someone been bribed on her behalf? Half an hour later she is inside the terminal building. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2017. What was Jeff Pollard doing, recruiting you? You never call the police about anything because you might end up in jail yourself. His fingers, dispensing the miniature bottles, were as clean and careful as a bishops. . The streets are not a woman's territory; confined in h. Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, a maker of maps, but when her husband's work takes her to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map the Kingdom's areas of internal darkness. Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, a maker of maps, but when her husband's work takes her to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map the Kingdom's areas of internal darkness. [It is a great book with a gripping plot, but could anyone PLEASE explain to me who killed whom eventually? eight months on ghazzah street ending. Yes. He had a boring job, she supposed, and a right to peoples life stories. And I could take a taxi., You cant take a taxi. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! I thought we would, but its not worked out. They had sanctions., Well, I take your word for it. Given that this is the novel she was inspired to write, it was far from a pleasant sojourn. My favourite aspect of Hilary Mantel's writing is the way she renders the mundane into poetry through her lyrical turns of phrase - the description of the money-lenders' office, for example. The fear, the heresy, the crazy rummers, I felt them and in the process getting a fantastic exposure to the Saudi expat life in 1985. Andrew stood in the dusty thoroughfare known as the Mall, gazing into the window of the President Hotels gift shop: crocodile handbags, skin rugs, complete bushmen kits with arrows and ostrich shells, direct from the small factory in Palapye which had recently started turning them out. Shes got the customs to face, and its her first time. It happened that at the time when Andrew Shore was ready to move on, Turadups Saudi Arabian manager, a man called Eric Parsons, was in Johannesburg trawling for expertise. He said that his only reservation was how youd settle in. It says what it isnt, but not what it is.. Sure, he said. Two sons at medical school, showed me their photographs. I take sugar, in coffee., Its true, there were a lot of shortages.. Finally, the western world and its relationship to the Arab world, and specifically Saudi Arabia was not remotely the same in 1987 as it is 2012, so is it even fair to really judge the book with a 2012 perspective? Who knew that the author of Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies had lived in Saudi Arabia? What, really not?, Its bad news, a man picking up a strange woman in a car. Please.. Hilary Mantel was the bestselling author of many novels including. She picked up the half cup of coffee: black, and almost cold now. The details were fixed up, at the President Hotel this time (there being, in Gaborone, a choice of two) over a tough T-bone steak and a glass of Lion lager. But I suppose they have their rules. This is a very interesting, entertaining, and even gripping, novel about life for an English expat in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, that eventually turns into a complex murder mystery. By HILARY MANTEL Henry Holt and Company. I have never read anything that so accurately describes the insidious fear that is ever-present, or the dreaded boredom, depression and loss of self-respect that come from living in the Kingdom. Its after that Helen Smith business., It was a damn funny business, if you ask me. He was a silent man, who never asked for anything, or set arrangements in train, or egged life on; instead he waited for what he wanted, with a powerful, active patience which seemed to surround him, like an aura: an aura of forbearance, of self-control. Based on Mantel's own experiences in Saudi Arabia, it points out, prophetically and way ahead of it's time, the stark differences between Islamic and Western culture. No more to drink then? He prepared to abandon her, move away. At least, Im glad I went there. It's a great read. It's also a bit like a soap opera, in that some affairs are revealed in the course of the novel, with the inevitable ongoing discussions of why they occurred, what could happen in Saudi Arabia if they come to light, etc. I seem to keep reading Mantels lesser works. I thought "Eight Months on Gazzah Street" would have worked better as a novel or short story. Enjoy it, gentlemen, the steward said. They had run into him once before, in Lusaka, and not liked him particularly; but now Pollard was offering a job, and Andrew needed one. She crossed out LONDON, wrote JEDDAH. Although this book is listed as a novel, it is a very authentic depiction of life of an expatriate wife in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. Well, I can't say this is the most enjoyable book I've ever read! Oh dear, a philosopher, she thought. Mantel's ability to recreate the setting of the Kingdom in that time left me breathless. What else will they be looking for?, Marks & Spencer, you see, they call them Zionists. 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