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There are currently 24 member reviews
for Fencing with the King
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Patricia S. (Chicago, IL)
Refugees in Lebanon
Fencing with the King is a marvelous book, taking the reader back to a time that is close enough for us to remember, but totally unknown from a non-American viewpoint. The atmosphere of 1970s Lebanon is one of the highlights of the book, and strange yet familiar to me. As an Armenian, I am very familiar with the immigrant/refugee experience in the US but to see that it also happened in the Levant (as it was called pre-WWI) was new to me. A distraught mother, hiding a heart-breaking secret, an American-Lebanese granddaughter trying to understand the family dynamics, and a cast of believable, loveable characters make this truly a new and different book. After I started this book, I made a note to find the author's other books to see what they have to show me.
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Reid B. (Seattle, WA)
Insightful and well-crafted
Amani is a Jordanian-American woman who feels the pull to visit the country of her ancestors. When her father, Gabe, is invited to return to Jordan to fence with the king at his 60th birthday celebration, his daughter decides to tag along. She is recently divorced, a prize-winning poet who hasn't written in years, and a college professor without much drive to teach. She has also just found, in one of her father's books, a piece of her grandmother's writing which is clearly the work of a sharp and insightful, if disturbed, mind. Amani never met her grandmother, who is long dead, and this writing whets her curiosity about her, the country she fled, and the Jordan which cradled her and where she bore her sons.
There is also the curious case of Musa, Gabe's cousin who may or may not still be alive somewhere in Jordan or the surrounding desert. Thought by many in the family to be long dead, Amani has an inkling this might not be the case and that there may be considerably more to his story. What she knows of him is that he was a gentle, intellectually limited man with a unique perspective on the world. She sets out to find him, if she can, in the brief time she and her father have determined to be in the country.
Gabe was invited to Jordan at the behest of his older brother, Hafez. Gabe is the youngest and their middle brother, Faroqu, is a wealthy merchant and their host at his lavish estate. Faroqu's son, Omar, becomes Amani's co-conspirator, guide, and interpreter.
At the beginning, this novel is a bit confusing; a family tree would have been helpful to keep everyone straight, though it only takes 30 or 40 pages for the relationships to become clear. I was also a bit uncertain about what Amani's motives might be in coming to Jordan and feared early on that this vagueness would permeate the book. I need not have worried. Diana Abu-Jaber, it turns out, is a masterful guide and her characters' uncertainty is deliberate and in service of an emotionally complex, carefully constructed story of one woman's movement toward reconciliation with herself as a woman and writer. She understands the stakes, acknowledging that "she'd begun to lose faith. It seemed as if it wasn't worth so much to write fearlessly if you didn't know what to fear. In fact, she'd started to think maybe it was more courageous just to be afraid."
While on her personal journey, Amani simultaneously works to resolve her family's mysteries and the clotted, intertwined relationships they have inhabited as they grew into middle age and beyond. But the journey will not be easy. As Gabe reflects early on, "the longer you're away, the bigger and more elusive the past becomes; a beautiful monster." The final 100 pages or so are particularly moving and perceptive.
One curious aspect of Fencing with the King is a strain of elitism displayed by the characters and, it seems, the author. These privileged people think nothing of obtruding into the lives of their servants and others who might be considered lower class. At one point, Amani and her cousin rummage through the possessions of a servant, seemingly without any compunction. I might have written this off as a cultural anomaly, but they are clearly worried about being caught doing something wrong, while at the same time they have no concern about the violation they are committing, nor does the author comment on it, leading me to believe that, while it might be thought of as naughty, this intrusion is acceptable on some level. This is only the most egregious example of the assertion of privilege on the part of the comparatively wealthy in this story. Until quite late in the book, servants are dismissed as less than fully human and those who don't live Westernized lives are casually marginalized.
Despite this blind spot, I ended up thinking this quite an excellent, insightful, finely-crafted work of self-discovery and growth. I look forward to reading more of this author's work in the future.
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Barbara S. (Gig Harbor, WA)
Fencing within Families?
I have read several earlier works of Abu-Jaber's books and always enjoyed them. I did eagerly read this one and her plot keeps the reader engaged to the end, involving a lot of family history and interrelationships which all families can relate to. Abu-Jaber also throws in a lot of Middle East political history which was a good backdrop to the events of the story. The ending was a bit weak in its denouement, but did not detract from the reader's engagement with the book and perhaps left it open for some thought and discussion if used for a book club selection.
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Kay D. (Strongsville, OH)
Family Saga with Mystery and Intrigue
Rich prose, diverse characters and a story-line with lots of twists and turns. A little bit mystery, some political intrigue and a look inside Jordan, a country I knew little about. Lots of family sagas and how one's family impacts their life, even when divided between countries.
I liked how the author began the book in Jordan and then provided the backstory of the main character, Amani, and her father Gabe who are visiting from America. Amani is using this trip to learn about her heritage and members of her family that she either hasn't seen in a long time or never knew. Following clues she finds, she discovers more about her family and about herself than she expects.
A good read, with beautiful writing and a pulling sense of mystery that keeps the reader engaged.
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Elizabeth T. (Bradenton, FL)
Fencing with the King
Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jabar opens with a falconry exhibition that is part of the King of Jordan's 60th Birthday. The descriptions of the pageantry and culture of the country are part of the novel's appeal. The author winds past and present history, as well as politics, culture and family dynamics to form the fabric of the novel. The characters are not particularly well drawn, but the reader comes to understand them and the complicated family dynamics through the back story that weaves the novel together.
Certainly the country of Jordan, its desert geography, culture and secrets is a main character in the novel. So much so that it leaves the reader wanting more information. The inclusion of maps specific to Jordan and the greater levant as well as a more detailed history would have been helpful.
This novel will appeal to many, especially Book Clubs. It flows easily and provides the reader a glimpse into a country and culture that to this day remains mysterious and intriguing.
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Susan W. (Renville, MN)
Family saga
Gently unfolding story of family jealousies, ambition and greed based in the mid-90's Jordan and New York. Diverse relationships between adult children and their parents are well-drawn as is the role of memory. Great desert setting descriptions - I could feel the sand in my teeth. The love stories (parent/child, husbands/wives, second romance) adds depth to characters. Learned a lot about the history of Jordan, a plus.
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Jazzmin G. (Ashland, OR)
Lost in history
I enjoyed the characters in this book, but often times the historical elements took me away from the story. I am an avid historical fiction reader because I love to learn about other cultures, but the way it would interrupt the story for the history was hard to follow and I found myself wanting to scan through a lot of those moments which isn't like me at all. I like the author's flow, just wish that it hadn't had the lingering feeling.
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