I was taken by this novel from the first page. Set in 1990s Israel, the author follows a year in the life of a university professor from Haifa, an Orientalist of the old school and senior member of his department, untouched by post-colonial theory and Edward Said. Old fashioned and out of touch in other ways, he is still endearingly and sympathetically drawn, while he attempts ineffectually to unravel the mystery around the sudden end of his son's marriage to a young woman whose parents run a hotel in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the scope of the novel expands in what seems like all directions, embracing the lives of many characters, including his department colleagues and their spouses, his in-laws, his son and his son's ex-wife and her family, another son who is an officer in the Army, a hotel maitre d', one of his students and her family, a minibus driver, the widow of a man killed by a terrorist bomb, an old woman who lives across the street - most of all his long-suffering wife, who is a judge in a court of law - all in all, a cast of characters that includes Christians and Muslims, as well as Jews.There is some melodrama in the story, some comedy, and a fair amount of irony, as day-to-day events unfold, with time out for stage performances, observances of Ramadan, a Palestinian wedding, translations of folk tales for the professor's research on the origins of extremist fundamentalism in Algeria, and a late-night singing recital by a feinting nun. The irony deepens as we (but not the professor) learn what precipitated the young couple's divorce, through an exchange of letters, the most revealing of which is never delivered. Meanwhile, the weather goes through a complete cycle of seasons, and we travel back and forth between Haifa and Jerusalem, more than once into the West Bank, and five times to the airport to meet or send off visitors. The liberated bride of the title? Well, it could be nearly any female in the story, for they are all single-minded and more or less successful at keeping the men in their lives in hand. Yehoshua's novel is a long, enjoyable read, and I recommend it highly.
Several characters interact, several points of view are presented, different persons speak. Why the author changes from third person to first is a mystery, and it does not improve the narrative. There are snatches of Arabic, though they are accompanied by marks and translated at the bottom of the page. Certain details, repeated over and over, become irritating. How many times must we be reminded that the cousin of the M.A. student who lies and manipulates the professor in order to get a grade is dark-skinned? Or that the elder daughter of the former father-in-law of the professor's elder son has yellowish eyes? There are several brides who might be the one in the title, there are several women who ask the professor to take them either under his protection, take them away from their husbands, or otherwise take them, and it is unclear how or whether he follows through for any of them. The husbands we meet in this book seem overwhelmingly to be sick, pretending to be sick, heartsick, or dead. Wives seem to be pregnant, recently pregnant, imagining themselves to be pregnant, or too old to become pregnant. A student is in love with her teacher. Her cousin is in love with her. The teacher's son is in love with his ex-wife. The teacher, fortunately, is in live with his own wife. Poetry is translated, drama transformed, disguises donned and removed, roles taken on and tossed away. Theories of social and historical influence do little to amend current social situations, nobody seems to believe much or to understand either the people who share the small country or the dwellings therein. If this seems confusing, it can be. That may be the point. I kept a list of characters and their relationship to one another, which helped.
Do You like book The Liberated Bride (2004)?
A funny book that I can't quite get my brain around. Parts of it definitely a 4 others more of a 3.5, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. There was much to love about this book--the characters were all strong and memorable as well as the story that carried them forward. I found myself laughing out-loud at Rivlin's obsessive quest to find out what happened to his son's failed marriage. His journey's were also entertaining. The story would fall apart for me when it got into the more political aspects of Israeli-Arab relationships. I'm a fiction girl and I just found myself skimming through these parts.
—Rachael
And the award for most insufferable protagonist in a novel goes to.... The Liberated Bride! Mazel tov! The Liberated Bride is the story of Rivlin, a middle-aged man who is singularly obsessed with his son's failed marriage. Although the divorce occurred five years prior to the story, Rivlin thinks of little else. Early in the story he begins a course of stalking his former in-laws and their longtime employee in a quest to find out what happened.Intertwined is a secondary story about a Palestinian Israeli student and her family. I found myself actively routing against Rivlin throughout the book. It got to the point pretty early on where I didn't even want to know what happened as it felt like such an utter invasion of this fictitious couples privacy. The book was longer than necessary and I feel that parts were written as a way for Yehoshua to showcase his intelligence.
—Rachael
Another loaner from Dad. This is one of those "middle aged man, steeped in academia, disgruntled with his life, some things go wrong, some things tempt him, the week seems to spiral downward..." books I can so often be found reading, although set in the Israel, not a place you have often found me reading about. He is described online as "an Israeli Faulkner" and you will find that there are stories within stories in this book. Father-son relationships, husband-wife relationships, Israeli-Arab relationships. Many tensions at play. I thought it was a pretty good book. But I was disappointed in the ending (Dad, I know you're not reading this, but I agree with you). It just. Kind of. Ends. Not much resolution. And several things that happen near the end that presumably (based on the events that came before them) would have caused at least some kind of uproar just seem to fizzle. Maybe he got tired of telling this story? I don't know. I enjoyed a lot of it, until that point. I will definitely be checking out more of his stuff.
—Carolyn
