Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The fates and fortunes of a group of Moroccan and Moroccan Dutch characters turn on matters of citizenship, in Dutch writer Wieringa's sleek literary thriller (after These Are the Names). Friends Thouraya and Ilham were born in the Netherlands to Moroccan parents, but feel like aliens in their own country. Having never been to Morocco, the two 20-something women decide to travel there on vacation by car. They find the country grim and forbidding, so when charming local Saleh offers himself as a guide in Rabat, they eagerly accept. On the eve of their return home, Saleh throws them a curve ball. He has brokered a deal to smuggle 19-year-old Moroccan Murat Idrissi into Europe, and plans to do so by stashing him in the trunk of Thouraya and Ilham's car on the ferry to Spain. Murat's mother implores the wary Ilham, who relents and convinces Thouraya. The book's title suggests how this ends, and Wieringa shifts the focus from the question of whether the plan will succeed to a gripping probe into how the death occurred and its aftermath. While the underdeveloped Murat functions primarily as a political symbol, the women's ill-fated journey leads to an emotionally complex and ultimately chilling transformation. Wieringa hits the mark with this intelligent outing. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Echoes of Don Quixote and the Odyssey frame the journey of the young women Ilham and Thouraya in this latest from award-winning Dutch author Wieringa (These Are the Names). Born to Moroccan immigrants, Ilham and Thouraya are friends who grew up in the Netherlands. Their multiple identities--Dutch, Moroccan, and Muslim--cause conflict and produce confusion; though they have the passports of two countries, they are foreigners in both. While visiting Rabat, Morocco, they meet Saleh, someone they know from Holland, who offers to chaperone them. Saleh talks them into hiding a boy, Murat Idrissi, in the trunk of their car on their return to Holland. When the trip ends tragically, Ilham and Thouraya are forced to grapple with their humanity, friendship, and responsibility to their parents and themselves. VERDICT In this taut, psychologically powerful tale, long-listed for the 2019 International Booker Prize, Wieringa's masterly descriptions create a sense of foreboding. Wieringa excels at characterization while raising serious questions surrounding identity and immigration in a deceptively brief work. Highly recommended.--Jacqueline Snider, Toronto
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two Moroccan Dutch women are drawn into a deadly game when they engage the chaperoning services of a compatriot while on holiday in Rabat. Tired of her monotonous life as a call-center worker in Rotterdam, Ilham Assouline decides a vacation in Morocco is just what she needs. Borrowing her sister's passport since she doesn't have one of her own, Ilham convinces her friend Thouraya to come along. The two rent an Audi to get them around, but while the young women might have found Rotterdam stifling, the land of their ancestors provides no relief. Realizing that women in Morocco rarely travel alone, they engage the services of Saleh Benkassem, a fellow Moroccan Dutchman, to shield them from unsavory attention. Unfortunately, Saleh, who has made a life in the shadows, exploits the women's vulnerability to his advantage. He introduces Ilham and Thouraya to a cripplingly poor family who want a better life for their son, Murat Idrissi. The women have a car, don't they? Surely they can smuggle the young man through to Europe! Saleh assures Ilham and Thouraya that they will be paid for this service. Hesitant at first, Ilham is plagued by guilt over the family's poverty. She and Thouraya eventually give in. But no good deed goes unpunished, and soon the women are in over their heads. Fluidly translated from Dutch and brilliantly paced, this slim novel delivers a high-voltage adrenaline rush while expertly weaving in commentary about displaced world citizens. The irony of their lives being circumscribed in different ways in both Rotterdam and Morocco is not lost on Ilham and Thouraya. In an expert twist, Thouraya uses precisely those constraints to the women's advantage. A cinematic, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
