Anastasia Hobbet
Auteur de Small Kingdoms
Œuvres de Anastasia Hobbet
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom canonique
- Hobbet, Anastasia
- Sexe
- female
Membres
Critiques
Pleasure of Believing par Anastasia Hobbet
Anastasia Hobbet is a superb story teller. She paints an exquisite picture of Wyoming with ranchers in conflict with environmentalists, and does so without taking sides. This balance makes her characters, especially stubborn Roberta and rancher Carl, seem so real you will find yourself wondering how they are doing – long after closing the book.
Set in Kuwait in the time between the two Gulf wars, Small Kingdoms is a rare novel with its sensitive observations into other cultures: embodied by American expats, Kuwaitis (two very different women stand out)and the Indian maids.
Anastasia Hobbet is an extraordinary storyteller. I had the privilege of being in her writer's group and observing this book being crafted chapter by chapter.
Anastasia Hobbet is an extraordinary storyteller. I had the privilege of being in her writer's group and observing this book being crafted chapter by chapter.
A good book, set in Kuwait between the two gulf wars, Lets you see how the people deal with life,
Small Kingdoms
Anastasia Hobbet
Permanent Press
344 pages
1579621910
In 1990 Kuwait was humbled in a matter of a few hours when Saddam Hussein invaded and seized control. Small Kingdoms takes place six years later, the people of this tiny country are on edge with fear of another attack. With a daily sense of foreboding and increased tension the people living their go about their daily lives while the bulldozers of Iraq threaten to roll into their land. These menacing machines conjure up memories of the past, heinous crimes buried but not forgotten.
Hobbet’s storytelling takes shape from different perspectives emanating from the lives of her culturally diverse mosaic of characters. As she introduces each one into the story, their unique voice and close-up view will blend together. Their background and different cultures intersect and through them the reader comes to understand the Middle East and the Kuwaiti society in the global arena. Not in isolation, but at the center stage.
The lives of four women, so alike yet so different, strong, obdurate and struggling to achieve their own goals are paramount to the story. Mufeeda, a married upper class Kuwaiti citizen, Kit, the wife of an American businessman and Hanaan, a recalcitrant single, Arab woman. In a society where servants are expendable, Emmanuella, a cook from India tests the limits of her position in order to save another. Her precarious deeds while working for Mufeeda offer a lesson in the fragility and value of human life.
Hanaan is full of intrigue and surprise, laughter and sorrow. She will go to great lengths to save a sick cat, and when she steals a cat from the owner, the scene is is rip-roaringly funny. In contrast, the chilling reality of her fate as an Arab women who engages in a relationship with a non-Arab is sobering. This dichotomy of emotion will cause you to seesaw between laughter and tears throughout. The lives of the people in Small Kingdoms feel genuine, they matter, and they touch your heart.
Through the perspective Hobbet gained from living in Kuwait for five years she unveils the prejudice, stereotypes, history, culture and beliefs. When you finish reading Small Kingdoms, Kuwait will no longer be an enigma.
© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].… (plus d'informations)
Anastasia Hobbet
Permanent Press
344 pages
1579621910
In 1990 Kuwait was humbled in a matter of a few hours when Saddam Hussein invaded and seized control. Small Kingdoms takes place six years later, the people of this tiny country are on edge with fear of another attack. With a daily sense of foreboding and increased tension the people living their go about their daily lives while the bulldozers of Iraq threaten to roll into their land. These menacing machines conjure up memories of the past, heinous crimes buried but not forgotten.
Hobbet’s storytelling takes shape from different perspectives emanating from the lives of her culturally diverse mosaic of characters. As she introduces each one into the story, their unique voice and close-up view will blend together. Their background and different cultures intersect and through them the reader comes to understand the Middle East and the Kuwaiti society in the global arena. Not in isolation, but at the center stage.
The lives of four women, so alike yet so different, strong, obdurate and struggling to achieve their own goals are paramount to the story. Mufeeda, a married upper class Kuwaiti citizen, Kit, the wife of an American businessman and Hanaan, a recalcitrant single, Arab woman. In a society where servants are expendable, Emmanuella, a cook from India tests the limits of her position in order to save another. Her precarious deeds while working for Mufeeda offer a lesson in the fragility and value of human life.
Hanaan is full of intrigue and surprise, laughter and sorrow. She will go to great lengths to save a sick cat, and when she steals a cat from the owner, the scene is is rip-roaringly funny. In contrast, the chilling reality of her fate as an Arab women who engages in a relationship with a non-Arab is sobering. This dichotomy of emotion will cause you to seesaw between laughter and tears throughout. The lives of the people in Small Kingdoms feel genuine, they matter, and they touch your heart.
Through the perspective Hobbet gained from living in Kuwait for five years she unveils the prejudice, stereotypes, history, culture and beliefs. When you finish reading Small Kingdoms, Kuwait will no longer be an enigma.
© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].… (plus d'informations)
Prix et récompenses
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 2
- Membres
- 84
- Popularité
- #216,911
- Évaluation
- 4.0
- Critiques
- 23
- ISBN
- 5
