by Jane Johnson
Izzy punched him affectionately on the arm, which for some reason the children found hilarious.
Mariata shook her head. ‘You men, always so concerned about your place in the world. We women have other things to concern ourselves with.’ Her bright black eyes sparked an affectionate challenge; Amastan gave her his little half-smile. She held his gaze for a long heartbeat, then leant over and placed a hand on her daughter’s bump. ‘So, have you decided yet?’
Izzy flashed warning eyes at her mother, but Mariata carried on regardless.
‘Where you will give birth?’
‘There is no question. She will go back to Paris to have it,’ said Amastan, all smiles gone. ‘My daughter will give birth in a clean, modern clinic where there can be no mistakes.’
Beside him, Taïb looked equally fierce. ‘Absolutely. Izzy, we talked about this! You can’t have the baby here, it would be madness.’
‘Madness!’ echoed Amastan.
They stood shoulder to shoulder: two halves of the same bean. Izzy caught the phrase in her head, turned it over and examined it, amused. Didn’t she mean ‘two peas in a pod’? Sometimes she found herself using sayings she’d never used before, knowing things she shouldn’t have known, given her upbringing. It was weird; but at the same time quite normal. She was almost getting used to it.
‘Look, I know all the arguments, I’m aware of the dangers; but you know women have been having babies in the desert for thousands of years! No – don’t say any more: I haven’t decided yet. But don’t forget that Jean and Anne-Marie will be here.’ These were the two French travelling doctors paid for by the trust Taïb and Isabelle had set up with Izzy’s redundancy payment and the money from the sale of the two London houses. Taïb’s thriving trade in commissioned artefacts for the American and European collectors’ market was also a source of revenue; Tana had passed many of her inadan skills on to the younger generation, though not without keeping many of her secrets back, and the results were striking and much in demand.
Mariata gave her daughter one of her looks out of the corner of her bright black eyes, sly and amused at the same time. Izzy knew what it meant: it meant, make your own mind up and take no notice of the men – what do they know of these things? We are desert women and we take our chances with the desert. Knowing the argument would eventually be won, she cunningly changed the subject. ‘And what will you call her, have you decided on a name?’
‘Are you so sure she’ll be a she?’ asked Amastan, only slightly belligerent.
Mariata’s lips curved beatifically. ‘Oh, yes, I have no doubt of that. I’ve read the signs.’
Taïb shook his head. ‘You always know without us saying a word. I don’t know why you ask. Izzy and I discussed it and came to an agreement last night.’
‘No matter how long I live, women will always remain a mystery to me.’ Amastan gave a mock-sigh. He regarded his wife solemnly, perhaps even a little reverentially; a lingering glance passed between them.
Forty years, thought Izzy. Even after two years she had not got used to the idea of finding herself the daughter of such parents. It was like borrowing someone else’s life, stepping into a world of fairytale – though a fairytale from a far more benevolent universe than that of Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. Would she and Taïb still be so vitally connected, so alive to one another, after such a time, she wondered. The concept was unreal, absurd, but at the same time quite delightful. Think how old we will be then! She laughed at the image thus conjured and looked up to find her husband watching her in an intent way that caused a warm flutter in her abdomen. Or perhaps it was just the baby kicking. Yet again.
‘Lallawa,’ she said softly, laying her hand across the swell of her belly. ‘I feel I owe the world a Lallawa: for the old one who gave her life to the desert; and for the girl who never had a chance to grow up with that name.’
Glossary
adhan the Muslim call to prayer
afrit a malevolent spirit
ag son of
ahal a Tuareg celebration
Amazigh (pl. Imazighen) Berber, the Free People
amenokal the chieftain of a drum-group of tribes
amghrar a tribal chief
anet ma the maternal uncle, more important than a parent
asfar Tamacheq word for ‘pale-skinned’
asshak the Tuareg code of honour and mutual respect
azalay salt trading expedition or caravan
babouches handmade leather slippers
baggara a wanderer, a beggar
baraka the force of good luck
barchan a curved, crescent dune
bokaye a sorcerer or manipulator of spirits, West Africa
djellaba a hooded robe
djinn (pl. djenoun) a spirit, often malevolent
enad (pl. inadan) a Tuareg blacksmith, often skilled in magic and ritual
erg a sand-sea
fesh-fesh quicksand
fichta a Berber celebration
funduq a shelter for camels and travellers
ghûl a malevolent spirit
guedra a ritual women’s dance
guelta pools of standing water
haik a traditional women’s robe
hamada a rocky plain
harratin agricultural workers
Iboglan Tuareg aristocrats
iklan tent-slaves
kasbah a fortress or fortification
Kel Asuf the spirits of the wilderness
kohl a dark eyeliner made from antimony
ma’allema a teacher of religion and such skills as embroidery
madugu a leader of a camel train or caravan
marabout a wandering holy man or religious teacher
mechoui spit-roasted lamb
mehari a fine quality white camel often used for racing
m’smen Berber pancakes
oued a dried riverbed or wadi
qareen a personal demon
redjem a tumulus or burial mound
Sah’ra Arab word meaning ‘dun’ or ‘mouse-coloured’
sehura a sorceress
sif a long, blade-like dune
souq the market
tagelmust the veil worn by Tuareg men
tajine an earthenware cookpot, and the dish cooked in it
takouba a Tuareg sword
Tamacheq the spoken language of the Tuareg
tamerwelt a hare
tassoufra a food bag
tcherot an amulet
tefok the sun
tehot the evil eye
Tifinagh the ancient written alphabet of the Tuareg
ult daughter of
Author’s note
This novel came out of the conjunction of two inspiring stories. The first was the discovery that my husband’s family roots lie amongst the nomads of Mauretania who brought silver, spices and salt from sub-Saharan Africa through the desert by camel caravan to trade in the markets of Morocco.
The second was meeting a Frenchwoman who had come to the remote Berber village in which we live seeking her father: a Tuareg trader with whom her Parisian mother had had an affair in the 1960s. She had discovered the truth of her paternity only on her mother’s death-bed: all her life it had been a mystery, a shameful secret. In contrast to Abdellatif, she had spent her life feeling rootless and confused about her identity, existing as only half a person, never really fitting into the world in which she lived. The rest of her story is not mine to tell; but I must thank her for the inspiration, because without it I would never have written this book.
Sources and bibliography
Enfants des sables, Moussa Ag Assarid and Ibrahim Ag Assarid (Presses de la Renaissance, 2008)
Amazigh Arts in Morocco, Cynthia J. Becker (University of Texas Press, 2006)
Art of Being Tuareg, T.R. Seligman and Krystine Loughran, eds. (University of Washington Press, 2006)
Men of Salt, Michael Benanav (Lyons Press, 2006)
Those Who Touch: Tuareg Medicine Women in Anthropological Pe
rspective, Susan J. Rasmussen (Northern Illinois University Press, 2006)
Tuareg Jewelry, Helene E. Hagan and Lucile C. Myers (XLibris, 2006)
Call of the Desert, Philippe Bourseiller (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2004)
Tikatoutin, Marceau Gast (Éditions de la Boussole, 2004)
Contes et legends Touaregs du Niger, Laurence Rivaille and Pierre-Marie Decoudras (Karthala, 2003)
In Quest of Lost Worlds, Byron de Prorok (The Narrative Press, 2003)
The Sword and the Cross, Fergus Fleming (Granta, 2003)
Veil: Modesty, Privacy, and Resistance, Fadwa El Guindi (Berg Publishing, 2003)
Civilizations, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (Free Press, 2002)
Desert Divers, Sven Lindqvist (Granta, 2002)
Sahara, Michael Palin (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2002)
Sahara, Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle (Walker, 2002)
Les Touaregs, Edmond Bernus (Éditions Vents de Sables, 2002)
Touaregs, Helene Claudot-Hawad (Gallimard, 2002)
Sahara Man, Jeremy Keenan (John Murray, 2001)
Touareg: la tragédie, Mano Dayak (Hachette, 1998)
The Pastoral Tuareg, Johannes Nicolaison (Thames & Hudson, 1997)
Desert Travels, Chris Scott (Traveller’s Bookshop, 1996)
The Blue People, Karl G. Prasse (Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen, 1995)
French Lessons in Africa, Peter Biddlecombe (Little, Brown, 1994)
The Tuaregs, Karl G. Prasse (Copenhagen, 1985)
Africa Adorned, Angela Fisher (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984)
The Tuaregs, Kenneth and Julie Slavin (Gentry Books, 1973)
Sahara, Rene Gardi (Harrap, 1970)
The Sheltering Sky, Paul Bowles (Penguin, 1945)
‘Unrest in the Sahara: Niger’s Nomads Fight for Rights’, Alex Sehmer and May Welsh (report, Al Jazeera, 2008)
‘Mali’s Peace Process: Context, Analysis and Evaluation’, Kåre Lode (report, Conciliation Resources, 2002)
‘The Rise of Amazigh Nationalism and National Consciousness in North Africa’, Dr Larry A. Barrie (assessment, Strategic Studies Detachment, 4th Psychological Operations Group, Airborne, 1998)
www.amazighworld.org
www.mondeberbere.com
Written to a soundtrack of music by Tinariwen, Tidawt and Etran Finatawa
Acknowledgements
Thanks to my husband, Abdel, for helping me to shine a light upon a mysterious culture I would never otherwise have had a chance to comprehend, and for giving me the ancient Tuareg amulet on which the story is based; to Mohamed and the school at Tiouada; to Hassan, our desert guide, and the camels who bore my weight and shocking inexpertise without too much complaint; and to everyone who patiently answered my many dense questions about the nomadic life. To Emma, Karen and Philippa for their support through the writing of this complex book; to Venetia and Jenny at Viking Penguin for their determination and passion; to Danny Baror for his unflagging faith and encouragement.
Being neither an anthropologist nor a linguist, I owe a great debt to my written sources; but any errors of interpretation are almost certainly my own. I’ve listed my main sources above for any who wish to pursue this fascinating subject further.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Two years letter
Glossary
Author’s note
Sources and bibliography
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Two years letter
Glossary
Author’s note
Sources and bibliography
Acknowledgements
