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Jump to navigationJump to searchMy Name Is Salma by Fadia Faqir (view source)
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Sally, a young girl from a farming family, flees her home after falling pregnant. She ends up in Exeter, struggling to make a new life. A An unexceptional, if sad, tale you might think. Except that Sally is from the Middle East, her skin is brown and her real name is Salma Ibrahim El-Musa.
''My Name Is Salma'' is Jordanian/British author Fadia Faqir's third novel. As its title suggests, its subject is torn between the defiant assertion of her identity, despair at her forced exile, and determination to survive. It tells of Salma's seduction by her dashing young Levantine lover, her subsequent pregnancy, and her imprisonment to protect her from her brother, intent on her murder for besmirching family honour.
The narrative comprises short sections, some only a paragraph or two long, some almost poetic in their economy. Encompassing a 16-year timespan, they switch almost at random between scenes from Salma's life among her Bedouin family, her years of protective custody, her flight into a monastery and subsequent journey to asylum in England. These are interspersed with episodes from her life in Exeter as she attempts to find work, educate herself and establish a foothold in an alien environment.
We want Salma to make a new life for herself, but we know she will be forever shackled by her past. As such, this book gives a rare and valuable insight into the reality of immigration. All too easily labelled and therefore dismissed or hated, outsiders in Britain need to be shown in this way. Those of us on the inside need to feel their confusion, to identify with their hopes and fears. I have read no other book which does it so simply, graphically and without the taint of earnest righteousness.
If the themes of this book interest you, you might also enjoy [[Brick Lane]] by Monica Ali. We can also recommend [[Willow Trees Don't Weep by Fadia Faqir]].
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