The Hostage: A Novel (Emerging Voices Series) Review

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The Hostage: A Novel (Emerging Voices Series) ReviewThis novella, from Yemen's foremost author, follows a young boy semi-imprisoned in a governor's palace as a hostage in the 1940s. A vital historical preface provides the political context for this, showing how isolated Yemen was at that time, and how a hereditary line of imams exercised central control. These rulers took hostages from outlying tribes as a guarantee of their military support. The hostage of the title is the son of one such tribal leader, and after spending his initial imprisonment in a fetid fortress, he is relocated to a sumptuous palace. There, he is immediately befriended by another young boy, who is apparently beloved by all--especially the ladies of the palace. It seems that the young boys are meant to be "duwaydar", a sort of a combination of servant and courtier. These boys were theoretically "safe" around the women, since they were pre-pubescent. In practice, however, they are sought out by the women of the palace for unspecified pleasures in the dark.
As the hostage gets resigned to his status, he falls in love with the wealthy and beautiful sister of the governor, Sharifa Hafsa. As his feelings for Sharifa develop, his friend starts succumbing to tuberculosis and the hostage starts to supplant him as favorite of the palace. This is doubtless some manner of allegory, but the meaning eludes me. There are clear parallels being drawn between the gilded cage status of the hostage and strong-willed palace women like Sharifa Hafsa. Ultimately it comes as no surprise that their solution is mutual. Dammaj leavens the oppressive story with moments of ribald comedy, such as a man who gets kicked in the head by a donkey he was attempting to have sex with. It's an interesting look at how traditional Yemeni society was, as recently as sixty years ago, and is worth reading by those with an interest in Arab culture and history, but probably of little interest to others.The Hostage: A Novel (Emerging Voices Series) Overview

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