Audiobook 10 hours Eight Months on Ghazzah Street Show full title Written by Hilary Mantel Narrated by Sandra Duncan 3 / 5 ( 103 ratings ) Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2018. It concerns a British couple in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Chap said he hadnt noticed., That seems unlikely, she said. Drinks were free of course, but on the Saudi run this standard airline ploy had the status of charity work. Andrew, a civil engineer, is there to make a lot of money by working on the construction of a new Ministry Building. She turned away and bent over the tea chest again, cleanly stabbed by avarice, like a peach with a silver knife. 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. Giving Up the Ghost : A Memoir (John MacRae Books), Mantel Pieces: The New Book from The Sunday Times Best Selling Author of the Wolf Hall Trilogy. It seemed that when oil was discovered in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia had no infrastructure, but that it had one now: roads, schools, hospitals, factories, mines, market gardens and chicken farms, airports and squash courts, telephones and filling stations, cold stores and police stations, take-away food shops, and the ten-pin bowling facilities at the Albilad Hotel. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street Audible Audiobook - Unabridged Hilary Mantel (Author), Sandra Duncan (Narrator), & 1 more 341 ratings Kindle $11.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial When Frances Shore joins her engineer husband in Jeddah, she is warned not to ask questions. Its after that Helen Smith business., It was a damn funny business, if you ask me. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. She had known he was serious; because he addressed her by her name. It is the book I wish I could have written. Its idolatry. The man stared at her. You get them everywhere. The tension slowly rises, to the mysterious end. Onward. 3.6 19 Ratings; $11.99; $11.99; Publisher Description. Its always late, the man said tetchily. 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. Frances Shore used to be a cartographer, but in her new life maps have as little value as she does. May 1st 2004 Across the road, the nations only cinema was showing a double bill: a kung fu drama, and. She crossed out LONDON, wrote JEDDAH. 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. And I had to re-read many sentences because they dont make any sense, and the style of sentence construction is irritating. It concerns a British couple in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Across the road, the nations only cinema was showing a double bill: a kung fu drama, andMary Poppins. Hes going to manage their Jeddah business; hes had experience out there, of course., So you mean youll be working with him?, I hope we dont end up living near him as well., They do pay for your housing, so its probably a case of taking what youre given., Thats fine, she said, but just try to ensure that what were given doesnt include Pollard. She opens as many questions as she answers, leads the reader to think and consider what really is/was happening to the characters such that the end merely makes you think more (if you see what I mean?). Two to get you started? Hand hovering over the trolley, he seemed to approve her choice; as if what lay ahead were something to brace yourself for, not to celebrate. This was written 25 years ago, so its really early. They go through everything, he told her. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET By Hilary Mantel. Well, I can't say this is the most enjoyable book I've ever read! Eight Months on Ghazzah Street A Novel Author: Hilary Mantel Read Excerpt About This Book 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. She has only rumours, no facts to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease. My husband, our two young sons and I lived in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 1991, almost the same time-frame as Hillary Mantel lived in Jeddah on the western side. But then last year when he was coming back after his summer holidays they took away his Test Match videos. This is a really excellent book, predominantly about culture, and cultures. Ive got numbers to ring, in case anything goes wrong. Besides, the streets are never in the same place for more than a few weeks together., Certainly do. Souvenir. Its not a page-turner. You work?, Oh well, youre redundant. I suspect that most of the women I know would chafe at life in Saudi Arabia, even now when the western media is trumpeting reforms that allow women to travel, divorce, and On the other hand it is a tense mystery. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. No Import Fees Deposit & $9.95 Shipping to Germany. So what kind of sandwich did you have?, Zimbabwe, she said. Oh, they said he could have them back, when the customs had had a careful look. Frances Shore used to be a cartographer, but in her new life maps have as little value as she does. The main character becomes sort of obsessed with what she perceives as the misogyny and general backwardness/ilogicalness of SA society and it all ends up feeling super politically incorrect to the reader in 2012. He said, I have witnessed the biggest transportation of ready-mixed concrete in the history of the human race. There would be harassment. They didnt want to stay in Botswana, even if there had been the option. It says what it isnt, but not what it is.. Sure, he said. When she moved her legs, newsprint rustled, a paperback slid from her lap onto the seat. It's the subtleties of the conversations that the reader should pay attention to, since they hold the key to the subsequent tragedies. Hillary has very successfully managed to expose the many frictions between Islam and the West in this unique and captivating novel. They build a hospital and then decide to put a road through it. Mantel draws on her own experience of living in Jeddah for 4 years and uses a magnifying glass here, while showing how especially being an ex pat and not speaking the language one can end up feeling being enclosed in a glass fish bowl with an ever diminishing oxygen supply. She had come to Africa at her own behest, a single woman, one of the few recruited for her line of work. There is no plot. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price. He peered into his empty ice bucket. The author herself lived in Jeddah for four years under not dissimilar circumstances and so the extremely unappealing depiction of the city, its inhabitants, both locals and expats, and Saudi society is, fair or not, based on intimate acquaintance. Give it to British Caledonian and welcome, thats what I say. But he never went for them. Were building up the infrastructure, said the man who despised Fairfax. 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. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street. They wont carry you., She thought of that cheese, that people say French taxi drivers wont let in their cabs. Hillary has captured in minute details all the challenges fa. We hope you have enjoyed we hope to have the pleasure we hope we hope and please to remain seated until the aircraft is stationary . Im just doing a final drinks round. And one of those nice plastic glasses, Frances Shore said. If you like that sort of thing. He turned away, back to his companion. And by the time you get out to Jeddah, well be fixed up with a house, and everything will be ready for you.. Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies have both been awarded The Man Booker Prize. eight months on ghazzah street ending horario bus 116 perth amboy eight months on ghazzah street ending horse nickers when he sees me eight months on ghazzah street ending. As her days empty of certainty and purpose, her life becomes a blank -- waiting to be filled by violence and disaster. Parts of the book might be considered racist today, but then I guess that was how people were in the '80s. Ive been to Botswana, the Holiday Inn, Gaborone. Reprinted by permission. Bunch of tarts sitting in the dust outside selling woolly hats. Bowing to Mecca, and so forth., As long as it takes to inconvenience you totally, the man said. You could give me some brandy, she said. And I would suggest that the same can be applied to Arabs expats settled in UK. eight months on ghazzah street ending. Sharp, clear-sighted and rather chilling observations on how the pressure to conform (at all costs) within a totalitarian, misogynist and racist society like Saudi Arabia does affect the psyche. I loved how she portrayed the wife's feelings of going slightly stir crazy, more or less trapped as she was in their rather grim flat, yet with an interest in her neighbours and their way of life; setting that against the prejudices of other ex-pats, the antipathy and hostility of the authorities towards women, particularly Western women. When he arrived home late that afternoon, Frances was on the porch packing a tea chest, wrapping up their dinner service in pieces of the. Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins. Try again. A young English woman, Frances, follows her English husband to Saudi Arabia where he works for an international company. I shall try to like it. Just as you are ready to settle on your settee with a cup of coffee and enjoy the trials and tribulations of a Brit abroad, bam! Not in my experience. 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. FRAGILE. Ok, so I'll be honest up front - I absolutely love Hilary Mantel and it's her books I love. Fancy a new palace? My friend wasnt amused, the steward said. Well, did you do it? she said. It tells the story of an Englishwoman, Frances Shore, who moves to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to live with her husband, an engineer. Dull clunk of ice cubes against plastic. 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 Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. 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. Travel ends and routine begins and old habits which you thought you had left behind in one country catch up with you in the next, and old problems resurface, but if you are lucky you carry as part of your baggage the means of solving those problems and accommodating those habits, and you take with you an open mind, and discretion, and common sense; if you have those with you, you can manage anywhere. As this occasion will pass, she thought; and in time, this flight. At least hed be a familiar face. This novel by the extraordinary two time Man Booker award winner Mantel tells a story in two different, well many different ways. Basically, the idea is that a British woman follows her husband to Saudi Arabia for a contracting job he gets, and then slowly goes crazy stuck in the apartment alone. He leaned over her seat. Youre not a person anymore. Doggedly, courteously, as if their conversation had never occurred, he reached for a glass from his trolley: Would you like champagne?, Soon, the crackle from the PA system: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning our descent to King Abdul Aziz International Airport. When the Shores were leaving Africa there had been a lot of people like Jeff around, doing their recruiting in golf-club bars. It was true that you could go as far as Johannesburg now without steeling yourself for the journey over dirt roads; it ought to have been an advantage, but in fact it made life too easy. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. Hed have found it strange from three paces, never mind three thousand miles. Start by marking Eight Months on Ghazzah Street as Want to Read: Error rating book. It was the Carlton, he noted; Turadup did not penny-pinch. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. Eight hazy, ominous, listless months, these. Learn more about the program. He says its a very stimulating place to work if youre in the construction business. He paused. Theyre thieves in Lusaka. Also upstairs is a strangely active "empty" apartment which offers the mystery of the story. It's a great read. SHORE. Out with the bulldozer. Frances, his wife, is a cartographer who goes with him but is not, as a woman, allowed to work there. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street Hilary Mantel, Author Holt McDougal $13 (288p) ISBN 978--8050-5203-9. Back in the 80s Id hear of Brits working on Saudi for much more money. That experience is so evident in the writing - the relentless, wearing heat, dust and boredom and the fear of something not quite definable. No reviews mention this letter, but I think it's very eerie. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. You have to cut the labels out. 332 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. When in the store with your husband the clerks will only speak with him, as you, the wife, don't exist. He told her what he wanted: Johannesburg. Christmas and Easter, the wives fly out., They cant stick it. He was a man of thirty-five, unmarried, with a loose and dusty appearance and shifting eyes; he had a gray-white skin, but the back of his neck was at all times mysteriously and painfully sunburned. How long now? he asked after a while. , ISBN-10 Not the stuff that appears on the BBC as a drama on a Sunday evening but actually reading the books. I seem to keep reading Mantels lesser works. Frances, his wife, is a cartographer who goes with him but is not, as a woman, allowed to work there. . 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. EIGHT MONTHS ON GHAZZAH STREET Copyright 1988 by Hilary Mantel. Her observations and interpretations of what goes on in the Kindgom are heart-stoppingly vivid, and for that reason, she gets four stars from me. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. This was my first Hilary Mantel novel, and most probably my last. Basically, the idea is that a British woman follows her husband to Saudi Arabia for a contracting job he gets, and then slowly goes crazy stuck in the apartment alone. 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. : Let us know whats wrong with this preview of, Published Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! But since the early 1970s the Middle East had been what they called their major theater of operations. Please try again. This was written 25 years ago, so its really early. The authorities will never publicise what happened, and any sensible foreigner who happens to have information will keep his or her mouth well shut. players, roofs, garden features, structural engineering, structural system, construction, floors, office equipment, furniture, forestry, masculine given names, thought, locomotion (biological), parts of a theatre, Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. English writer Hilary Mantel lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for four years in the 1980s. The loss of autonomy, the loss of independence, the loss of self. The only reason I can see for this book's existence is an agenda to bash Saudi Arabia and reinforce Western stereotypes. Please try again. She hears whispers, sounds of distress from the 'empty' flat above her head. Give old Eric a call, Jeff said. More coffee? She shook her head. There were always stories out of the Middle East, and no doubt Jeff Pollard would have told her some, if he had not been so anxious to recruit Andrew for his building project. Youre a woman, arent you? His companion dug his plastic fork into a mille-feuille, and made no reply. Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2020. [4], On the book's American publication in 1997, one reviewer described it as "a bold, searingly honest and uncompromising novel";[5] while another praised "Mantel's knack for leavening her weighty themes with seductive narrative strategies."[6]. Wolf Hall is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire.Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Ok, so I'll be honest up front - I absolutely love Hilary Mantel and it's her books I love. In point of fact, I dont think weve anywhere else to go. She picked up a broad felt marker and daubed their name on the side of the tea chest. But in the dim, airless flat, Frances spends lonely days writing in her diary, hearing the sounds of sobs through the pipes from the floor above, and seeing the flitting shadows of men on the stairwell. Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2014. What, really not?, Its bad news, a man picking up a strange woman in a car. , Item Weight Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. She has only rumours, no facts to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease. Hilary Mantel was the bestselling author of many novels including. Sit by the pool, play the fruit machines, bugger all else to do. He paused, the tirade halted by a scruple of politeness. She smiled. This was the beginning; an hour or so out from Heathrow. Shut out from practicing her profession by the severe, ultra-sexist legal code of Saudi Islam, Frances writes in a . Pity, he said. Of course, Im not sure if they let them out nowadays. Eight Months on Ghazzah Street. I thought it would be interesting to follow the author on her discoveries through living in Saudi Arabia understanding that this was a work of fiction. The reader should give it a chance, since at first, it may seem a bore, with the dwelling on the the in. I thought "Eight Months on Gazzah Street" would have worked better as a novel or short story. Share | Add to Watchlist. Another pang stabbed her, as sharp as the first. Theyre doubling my salary, he said flatly. Nondairy creamer, madam?, I always wonder about this stuff, she said, accepting the foil packet. Read the Review. But Frances knows otherwise, and day by day, her sense of foreboding grows even as her sense of herself begins to disintegrate. Of course, if you fly Saudia, theyre always late as well., Too often. Most shocking to her is the treatment of females who are are rendered invisible by more than just the ankle length veils they wear. If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Jeff Pollard was a sometime employee of Turadup, William and Schaper, a firm known throughout the construction business as Throwem Up, Billem and Scarper. "[3], Reviewing the book in The Spectator, Anita Brookner wrote of a "tightness of control" and commented that a "peculiar fear emanates from this narrative". Gazelles are hunted from the backs of pickup trucks. Rubens or anything? All the more disappointed because I had high hopes for this book. AU $157.95 + AU $43.72 postage . He says its not that easy, but theyve been in Saudi for a while and they know how things are done., We all know how things are done, the steward said; he rubbed finger and thumb together, rustling an imaginary wad of notes. Frances closed her eyes again. We, he indicated his cohorts, are stopping at the Marriot. We could be in and out within three years, he said. This book is pure dynamite. But her tone wrapped up the conversation. The steward relented. Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2015. I had adored the other Hilary Mantel books that I read, so I wanted to try her earlier stuff. This is such a weird bookI don't know what to think about this, almost a month after I finished it. : She hears whispers, sounds of distress from the 'empty' flat above her head. So now when you were off to Jeddah, people said, Dont fall off any balconies, will you? It became monotonous. Noon can very well be at twelve-thirty. Hillary has captured in minute details all the challenges faced by a a British expat on her first outing in Saudi Arabia, the most extreme face of fundamental Islam. Id like to witness a large gin. 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. Your salary is paid in riyals, tax-free. Although it takes place several decades ago, it reads as if it were happening today. Id rather go with you. I went in the coffee shop and asked them for a toasted cheese sandwich, and do you know what they said?, But no cheese in the whole place? Either that, or she's just the most narrow-minded woman of her time. 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? Hilary Mantel was the bestselling author of many novels including, They always say, well just do another year. 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. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. Much of the novel speaks about the treatment of women, using a variety of examples -- Frances . I am a big Mantel fan, having enjoyed her other books tremendously. She must, he said, see for herself. It was at that point that I . His contract in Botswana was a month away from its termination date, and they were already packing and selling things off. I ask you. So an independent, young married couple move to Saudi in order for th. [2] Mantel felt the book anticipated later developments in the culture clash between Islam and the West: "I felt a bit frustrated because as events developed, I had a sort of I-told-you-so feeling.