Michael Zeyda Zeyda itibaren Wewahitchka, FL 32465, Birleşik Devletler itibaren Wewahitchka, FL 32465, Birleşik Devletler

I am now reading the third book.

4.5 Stars! After reading some of the other reviews I wish I could be as eloquent as they have been but alas, I am not a writer--just a simple reader. Nevertheless, I continue. I was surprised at how taken I was with this novel. Would I have picked it up off a bookseller's shelf? I'm not sure. However, I certainly appreciated Lalami's writing style and found her stark descriptions of modern Morocco, it's culture, and its struggles quite captivating. Gently, Lalami pulled me into Youseff's life and I found myself quite taken with this young man. I was also taken with his mother and the sacrifices she had made in order to avoid shaming her family. This is a hard book to put down and it is certainly an appropriate novel for this decade. I give it only 4.5 stars simply because I did not care for the ending but, to be fair, I'm not sure if an ending I desired would have been best for the author's message. Once again, I find myself in the difficult position of trying to find a new read once I have finished such an exceptional one.