My dream of living in Mexico for a year drew me to read A House in Fez, Building a life in the ancient heart of Morocco, by Suzanna Clarke. Like many of us, the Clarkes went on vacation to an exciting, exotic country and began to imagine what it would be like to live there. The difference is, they took the leap, bought an ancient house in need of major renovation and survived to share their fascinating journey.
Suzanna Clarke is a photo journalist and her writing style is lively, informative and entertaining. Her open-hearted embrace of the Moroccan culture had me thinking it might be appealing to hear loudspeakers calling me to prayer at dawn each day. And I found her adoption of stray cats and abused chameleons truly endearing.
Suzanna and Sandy Clarke are certainly the optimistic, adventurous sort, taking on their renovation project with her high school level French and his smattering of the local Darija dialect of Arabic. Reading this book, I was always eager to learn what happened next, whether they were negotiating with shady inspectors, discovering long buried treasures behind ancient walls or having lumber delivered by donkeys. In fact, the book helped me give my daughter, an interior designer in New York City, a fresh, new perspective in her work. Talking on the phone one day, I couldn't resist telling her, "You think that's bad, be glad you aren't renovating a house in Fez and dealing with runaway donkeys!"
--Jeanne Moren
imagineatrium.com
Purchase A House in Fez at your local, independent bookstore. Find it here.
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1 comment:
I also really enjoyed this book. A real insight into Moroccan culture. Thanks for your review.
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