December 9th
Last night I finished "Crescent" by Portland, Oregon writer Diana Abu-Jaber. It brought back memories of other food related books I have read in the past such as "Like Water for Chocolate" and "Pomegranate Soup". Here the food is middle eastern and it weaves its way through the story. Sirine, the main character, is 39 years old, and much like the author, she is a blend of two cultures, in this case Arab-American.. Sirine was raised by her Iraqi uncle since her parents died when she was young. She is single and works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, where her customers are lonely students and professors from various middle eastern countries, homesick for the smell and taste of their native foods. My mouth was watering as I read the book. I could almost taste and smell the foods as Sirine lovingly prepared them each day. At the end of the book some recipes are included. When Sirine falls in love with an Arabic literature professor, who fled Iraq, memories of her parents and questions about her identity as an Arab American arise. One comes to understand the immigrants sense of loss and the loneliness of exile through the characters in this novel. It is a a very timely story, considering what is going on in the world today. Despite the serious subject matter, it is a very sensuous and passionate book that is hard to put down.