If truth be known, I picked up Home Fire with some reluctance. My fear was that Home Fire would be another over-simplified book, painting its Muslim cIf truth be known, I picked up Home Fire with some reluctance. My fear was that Home Fire would be another over-simplified book, painting its Muslim characters as either wild-eyed terrorists or pitiful victims.
I needn’t have worried. This is a nuanced book that is good – so good, in fact, that Ms. Shamsie had me in thrall right ‘til the extraordinarily powerful last lines. The book is based loosely on Sophocles’ Antigone, and even in stating that, I’m probably relaying too much.
The crux of the plot is an unexpected romance between Aneeka, the twin sister of Parvaiz, who has been seduced into leaving London to work for the so-called media arm of ISIS, and Eamonn, the secular son of the British home secretary who has turned his back on his Muslim faith. Aneeka and Parvaiz were orphaned early on and raised by an older sister who is now studying in America. The bond between the twins is unbreakable.
It is far too easy to create spoilers for this book so let me just say this: the themes of duty to country vs. duty to self, natural (or religious) law vs. man-made law and ambition vs. humanity is interwoven with a mesmerizing story of star-crossed lovers in the crossfires of a particularly intense time. The novel is well-paced and explosive with an organic ending that unsettled me and broke my heart. This is a powerful exploration of love, justice and a quest for salvation that could not be more timely.
Anne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl is a part of the ambitious Hogarth Press project – to retell Shakespeare’s works (in this case, Taming of the Shrew) by todaAnne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl is a part of the ambitious Hogarth Press project – to retell Shakespeare’s works (in this case, Taming of the Shrew) by today’s acclaimed novelists. As a result, readers will want to judge the book in two ways: how does it succeed in its modern retelling of the Shakespeare classic? And, how does it compare to Anne Tyler’s oeuvre of quirky and wonderful novels?
Let’s take the first question first. In the Shakespeare play, a beautiful young woman (Bianca) is wooed by two suitors but her father will not allow her to marry until her outspoken older sister (the “shrew” Katherina) is first wed. It is arranged that the slovenly fortune-hunter Petruchio of Verona will marry Katherina, who eventually is tamed and domesticized through her marriage.
Anne Tyler does a masterly job of updating the story to the present. Katherina (now Kate) is urged to marry her father’s lab assistant, a Russian named Pyotr whose green card will soon expire. Her sister Bianca (now Bunny) is rather appalled with this set-up; she is sixteen and Kate has watched over her since their mother’s death. It’s all great fun – so much so that I read it all in one sitting.
Yet there are cracks that show through upon reflection. Kate doesn't’ seem particularly outspoken; she seems quirky and out-of-place in her milieu (not unlike many of Anne Tyler’s other delightful characters). Kate doesn’t seem like the type of going-on-thirty woman who would go about her father’s bidding. Pyotr is blunt but likeable, and yet, as he begins to exert himself, I had to wonder why Kate readily put up with it. When Kate gets to the famous speech in defense of marriage and obedience, it seemed anachronistic for today’s times.
Put another way, there were times I could feel the strain of Anne Tyler trying to make her novel conform to the classic tale. I am a huge fan of this author and when she has no such constraints – Ladder of Years, Breathing Lessons and Accidental Tourist come first to mind – her characters are wonderfully original and strike out in unexpected directions. It is this talent of Ms. Tyler – to truly see the eccentricities we humans possess and to delightfully portray them without ever making fun of her characters – that draws her readers to her, again and again.
I liked Vinegar Girl. I enjoyed and sometimes marveled at how adept Anne Tyler was at re-imagining Shakespeare. I certainly recommend it. As Shakespeare himself would (and did) say: “Tis a very excellent piece of work, madam lady. Would ‘twere done.”
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