I’m judging a 2020 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile. 

Captivating

Spring follows three narrators - Sami, a college student in Cairo hiding a relationship with an American woman from his family; Suad, his mother back home in a rural town; and Jamila, a Sudanese refugee who works as a maid for Sami and his girlfriend Rose. The chapters alternate among these three points of view at the beginning of the Arab Spring, when protests are erupting in Tahrir Square.

Unfortunately, despite the exciting setting of time and place, we got more of the characters' inner lives than the external world. I found all three of our main characters unlikable and while I don't mind unlikable characters - in fact, I find they can be the most interesting - I never seemed to get to the point of caring what happened to them. Each of them was obsessed with a singular purpose and even Jamila, a woman who has survived hell many times over, was not a sympathetic character. This book had some beautiful writing, and I loved being transported so clearly to Cairo, but I was ultimately disappointed by this book. But that may have been due to my high expectations. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy more character-driven books rather than those driven by plot, and/or those who enjoy a strong sense of place.

What to do when your country is at a serious state of unrest?  Honestly, I don't think there's a right answer to this.  But Spring gives us an idea of a country that's been in that state for a long time, and what happens when it continues, unexpected or not.  Rafei gives amazing characterizations, rich dialogue, and heartbreaking feelings.  Even though most of the book is told in a heightened manner, it's still so wonderfully told.



Spring publishes 8.25.2020.



4/5 Stars

What an interesting insight into the experience of the Arab Spring! Fascinating, complex, and really challenging perspectives, I really enjoyed this book.

What happens when your country moves into open revolt? When your fellow citizens decide enough is enough? Where do ‘regular people’ fall during this split between protesters and the enforcers? 

If these questions resonate with you, you may have been around during the Arab Spring in 2011. Or you might be living in the US in 2020. Or Hong Kong in 2019. Or Latin & South America since 2015. And on, and on, and on...

There really hasn’t been a period in time where people weren’t fighting for their rights against oppressors, whatever form they may take. In Egypt during the first few months of 2011, people were inspired by the initial protests in Tunisia at the end of 2010, which ended up spreading widely through the Middle East. The protestors moved against authoritarianism and corruption, against poverty and unemployment. They were met with violence and attempts at further suppression. Many regimes, including Egypt‘s, turned off their phones and internet access. There were curfews and people were jailed without justification. 

But just outside these uprisings are the countless people just living their lives. They may not be actively participating, but that does not exclude them from the effects of all the upheaval. Their proximity makes them involved, whether they want to be or not. And the characters in Spring, by and large, definitely do not. 

Sami and his American girlfriend, Rose, are trying to figure out how to make their relationship work when they seem to have so little in common. Rose’s maid, Jamila, is a pregnant Sudanese refugee that’s struggling to find her place. And Sami’s mother, Suad, can’t help but worry about how both he and his sister, Ayah, are going to thrive in this world that seems so different from the one she grew up in. They each try to wage their own personal battles but are unable to ignore the changes taking place around them. These types of conflicts have a way of dragging everyone into the fray.

This isn’t a book about the Arab Spring as much as it is one about how characters coped while living through it. In that way, it might be even more relevant to the average person reading. For those of us who find it easier to ‘not take a side’—it might be more difficult for you down the road. You can’t play bystander for long before it’s all on your doorstep.
This is Leila Rafei’s debut novel. I know I’ve talked a lot about the implications of the real-life events that take place in it, but know that this is also a very good book! She writes beautifully and evocatively, in a way that would make me want to visit the country under different circumstances. I hope that she continues to write and I’m very interested in what else she has to say.

I don’t think I’ve ever been the first review for a book on Goodreads, but I’m guessing with the continued unrest in the United States, there may be an increased interest in books set during modern revolutionary periods. Another one I’ve got on my TBR, also from Blackstone, is A Door Between Us by Ehsaneh Sadr, which takes place amidst the Iranian Green Wave protests in 2009. With all of the new reading the book community is doing to better educate themselves on racial justice and inequality, I just hope we’ll be able to translate this information into some systemic change in this country. If not I’m afraid we’ll end up repeating the very same mistakes that led us to this point in the first place.