Banine (1905–1992)

While this is a non-fiction memior of a a childhood and coming of age, it does have an air of a novel about it. In part that's because of the setting and the events, in other ways it is due to the narrator (recalling events from her childhood) is always going to be somewhat unreliable. There is a lack of clear timeline here in the narrattive, from the afterward some events took place in a lot longer timeframe than the narrative gave the impression. And there is the influence of novels on the show more narrator herself, she spends quite a lot of time immersed in a book and some events are people are described in those terms.
Banine was the youngest daughter of a Muslim family who had struck it lucky and hit oil in the vicinity of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. She describes them as being rich but not respectable, and certainly some of what is described is not in the least bit respectable! They're also an odd mixture of devout and not, of eastern & western and that makes for several lines of conflict withint the family - and that's before you throw in a civil war and the Soviets taking over!
She has a turn of phrase and uses it to bring a moment to life, or to describe a person and their habits with clarity. It was a really interesting book to read, although I am now champing at the bit to know what happened next? What about Andrey, the love of her young life? I'm still not sure that was his real name, but that is what she calls him. I got to the end hoping against hope that they'd meet again and it would all be happily ever after - even though I know most of life doesn't work out like that. It's a time past and this is a really very different window on that. show less

I tend to be lukewarm about coming of age novels but enjoyable writing and time/place/cultural setting made this a unique read.

A wonderful memoir of a young Azerbaijan woman who flees her loveless marriage and arrives in Paris in the 1920's. Banine's writing makes the post-war emigre community come alive, she is am amazing story-teller.

Thanks, Edelweiss+

3.5 rounded up to 4