Dreams of Water (2007)
is set in Beirut, Lebanon, and London, England, after Lebanon’s civil war
(1975-1990). It commences with the protagonist, Aneesa, now 30 years old and
living in London, reflecting on her homeland, Lebanon, when she was 10 years
old and her 15-year-old brother was abducted. A pyschic in Beirut told Aneesa and
her mother, Waddid, that Bassam was killed three days after he was abducted.
But was that true?
Aneesa leaves Lebanon
to work in London as an Arabic translator. At the bus stop on her way to work she
meets Salah, also from Lebanon. He is married to Huda, with a son, Samir, who
attends university. Aneesa and Salah become friends and she tells him about her
brother Bassam.
Huda dies. Aneesa’s
and Salah’s relationship intensifies and she moves in with him. Meanwhile
Aneesa’s mother has never recovered from her son’s disappearance. When her
husband dies, she volunteers at an orphanage – looking for a substitute for
Bassam. She befriends Ramzi. He is 10 years old.
After Salah’s death
Aneesa returns to Lebanon determined to find out what happened to her brother
twenty years ago.
The novel never
convincingly portrays Aneesa resolving issues about her brother and his loss,
and the characters fall flat. It’s difficult to empathise with any of the
characters. The character that has the most depth is Aneesa’s mother who bears
the greatest loss. The novel repeatedly travels back and forth in time and in destination
between Beirut and London. Consequently, reflection and reality become distorted,
making the plot disjointed and fragmented.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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