Yumna Kassab, The Lovers

 

- This is a stunning achievement by Yumna Kassab, as was her previous novel Australiana. 

- In short chapters she digs deep into the quagmire of emotional stresses and strains that overwhelm the loving relationship between Jamila and Amir. No locations are divulged, nor any career or work details, not even their ages. All the paraphernalia of the traditional narrative form is deliberately missing. The focus is entirely on the essence of their personal relationship. And this is why it is so magical. 

- Amir is devoted to Jamila and longs for her to assent to becoming his wife. However he was briefly married before and it was a disaster, so he is wary. 

- Jamila is fiercely independent and feels trapped in expectations of normality. Wives are possessions...religion was prerequisite number one...A woman follows the man, not the other way around.

- We are taken to an unnamed village, probably in Lebanon. Parental controls and religious conservatism dominate, and personal freedom is a mirage. 

- As the novel proceeds we learn that Jamila has migrated to the other side of the world, presumably Australia, and Amir remains in the old country. 

- Kassab's lens is set wide - the Traditional versus the Modern, the Ancient versus the Contemporary, the East versus the West, the Religious versus the Secular. The tensions are central. 

- The lovers' reflections on their feelings are conveyed in letters (mostly unsent). They are rich, soulful, insightful and beautifully written. 

These words I write have a meaning and it is love, though we are separated by the greatest ocean in the world...You are like an eternity to me and I exhaust myself with what I wish to say to you. 

I want to draw you close so you are against my heart.

I want to give you so much pleasure because to me, you are passion and desire, and they are intertwined.

I want to imprint myself upon your life till you know you will never walk alone again. 

I am here for you, I am here, I am here for whatever time fate has given us in this life.

At the very end Amir's friend, Samir, offers him some advice on love and loyalty that is so right. Regret is profound.