CAIRO: For most, life, with its continuous struggles, is hard enough as it is. Living in a war zone makes it even more of a challenge. “Absent unravels the story of Dalal, a young Iraqi woman, and her neighbors struggling with their day-to-day lives as they dodge allied bombings and international sanctions following the first Gulf War. As the author narrates how the characters accommodate to the changing circumstances of their world, “Absent is ultimately a story of the tenacity of the human spirit and the ability to persevere.
Orphaned in unusual circumstances, Dalal is raised by her childless aunt and her husband. As a young, modern Iraqi woman about to complete her education, she is considering what to do with her future while learning first hand about the unpredictability of life. As Dalal watches her family and neighbors forced into adapting to the harsh realities of life in war torn Iraq, the futility of planning a future in ever changing circumstances is apparent. Instead, she looks to her family and neighbors to lead the way.
Dalal’s aunt, formerly an arts and crafts teacher, earns money as a seamstress whose forte is resizing and refashioning existing outfits and tries to teach a reluctant Dalal her craft. Abu Ghayeb, her husband, used to be an employee at the Ministry of Tourism, but embarks on beekeeping project to make up for the lost income by selling honey and enlists Dalal’s help.
Her neighbors also open new doors for her as they themselves struggle to forge a living: Upstairs, Umm Mazin hones her fortune-telling skills and peddles home remedies especially concocted to treat physical ailments or minister to marital problems. On the second floor, Ilham works as a nurse in the children’s ward, but fantasizes about reuniting with her French-born mother as a means of escaping the harsh realties of her job and life; she persuades Dalal that learning French will be an invaluable skill for her career. Saad, the hairdresser, offers Dalal a job in his salon on the ground floor and manages to remain upbeat even as the demand for his services takes a downturn.
In “Absent, Khedairi does not try to make a strong political statement, rather politics only surface within a human context in how the characters are affected. In an interview on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the author explains, I focus on writing about the regular, normal human being in the back lines, because when the politicians do take decisions, they do not take the opinion of the normal person, and that is the guy or the woman who suffers and this is worth writing about.
As the pressures caused by sanctions and bombings build up, the tenuous human relationships are apparent. Information becomes a tradable commodity and suspicion runs rampant among friends, neighbors and even lovers. Who will succumb to the perks of becoming a state informant?
The author’s candid style creates a cast of truthful characters that are almost tangible and, despite the bleak backdrop of their lives, Khedairi’s black sense of humor and her talented storytelling make “Absent a pleasurable read.
Though careful to avoid politics, with Iraq making news headlines daily it is hard to disassociate the novel from the context of current events.
Khedairi’s novel succeeds in humanizing the Iraqi people. During a time where our main interaction with them is through the media, Khedairi helps us remember that war defines the circumstances within which they live, not who the Iraqi people truly are. Iraqis, like us, are for the most part ordinary people struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances.
Betool Khedairi was born in Baghdad in 1965 to an Iraqi father and a Scottish mother. After receiving her B.A. in French literature from the University of Mustansirya, she divided her time between Iraq, Jordan and the United Kingdom while working in her family’s business. She currently lives in Amman.
“Absent is Khedairi’s second novel. Her debut novel, “A Sky So Close, tells the story of a girl growing up in wartime Iraq, and the juxtaposition between Eastern and Western values.
AbsentBy Betool KhedairiTranslated by Muhayman JamilAUC University Press, LE 80
