Atria Books, December 1, 2015.
Three Stars
Growing up as a Tunisian immigrant in Paris, Samir
Tahar works hard to succeed despite his poor upbringing. He makes his way to
law school, where he meets fellow student Samuel Baron, a Jewish man with a
tragic past. They are inseparable friends, until Samir has an affair with
Samuel’s girlfriend, Nina. When Nina chooses to stay with Samuel, Samir flees
France, and starts a new life in America – using Samuel’s identity.
Samir comes looking for the American dream, yet he
cannot get ahead as an Arab immigrant. When he shortens his name to Sam and people
begin to assume he is Jewish, he does not correct them. With this recreation of
himself, Sam becomes extremely wealthy and successful as a lawyer at a top law
firm, with a beautiful wife and two children. Life is going along smoothly,
until he is reunited with Samuel and Nina, and his true identity is exposed.
The story moves along in a rambling,
stream-of-consciousness style, with no distinct voices. The writing is good,
but there is no emotional investment in the characters. A finalist for the Prix
Goncourt, this novel was originally published in 2013 in French, and it is very
European in style. The subject matter is very relevant, with the Parisian
setting and exploration of terrorism/anti-terrorism – as one official tells
Samir, “[w]hen it comes to anti-terrorism, there are no rules anymore. They can
do anything they want.” (Loc. 4002)
There are some interesting philosophical
conversations, especially between the two men, Jewish and Muslim – debating over
who is more persecuted. Samuel rejects his own history, yet he feels violated
when Samir co-opts it. Ultimately their argument is over Nina, as a symbol of
what they both desire – and they show us that love and heartbreak are the great
equalizer of race and religion.
The characters are all fairly unlikeable – I don’t
always mind that, but in this case, I felt like they were very secondary to the
author’s political views. Samuel, Samir and Nina are each used as a vehicle to
express ideas, but they don’t seem to have any real thoughts of their own. The
characters are really secondary to what they represent: political tensions,
racial profiling, and concealment of identity. This is a book of ideas, above
all else, and they are more relevant than ever.
Ultimately, whether Muslim, Jewish, or otherwise, we
are all constantly reinventing ourselves, it just depends on who is watching.
Everyone thinks life would be easier if they were someone else, but it takes
real strength to accept your own identity regardless of persecution. Samir
reinvented his exterior image, but he was still the same inside – and when he
embraces that self, he is truly redeemed.
I received this novel from Atria Books and NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.
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