Being a happy subscriber of the wonderful And Other Stories
publishing house, I have, of course, sat on my first book for a considerable
length of time before getting around to reading it. I should point out that
this is not unusual for me. My bookshelves are peppered with books I just
couldn’t wait to read and which, several years later, haven’t managed to push
themselves into my hands or in front of my eyes. Yes, I am a fickle reader if a
consistent one...?
Anywho, I’m glad to say I finally got around to reading this
book by Albanian writer Elvria Dones, a book which explores an unusual Albanian
tradition in which a woman can choose to live as a man, as a ‘sworn virgin’,
taking their place as the head of the family. In this story Hana, or Mark, is
in the process of emigrating to America, where her cousin Lila lives. Hana/Mark
is also embarking on another kind of emigration, or perhaps it is truer to say
a return, from living as a man to living as the woman that she is. Through the course
of the story we follow Hana/Mark as she makes this transformation, gaining
insights through flashbacks into how she came to become a sworn virgin in the
first place.
I enjoy stories about duality, so this story was bound to be
of interest to me, and Dones has a light and easy way of writing so that the
story sweeps you along. That being said, I felt that the exploration of Hana’s
journey back to becoming a women was a little lightweight. This story offered a
great opportunity to reflect deeply on issues of gender, and whilst Dones does
touch upon this, it is after all the cornerstone of the story, there’s a
superficiality to it which seems to boil down the ‘manliness’ of Mark into a
few core activities: Mark drinks raki and smokes and has a pared down way of
thinking, whereas Hana does housework and obsesses about her looks and losing
her virginity. In this way Dones presents gender as a cloak which can be pulled
on and off, something which is reduced to parodied actions rather than an
essence. And in some ways I think this is true, this is an interesting way to
consider gender as something which has only a superficial impact upon a person’s
identity, and perhaps this was the point Dones was making, but if so I’d have
liked that to be a little more explored and perhaps a little more transparent.
Perhaps I am just a lazy reader.
The strength in Dones’s writing is in the characterisation.
Whereas gender plays a surprisingly insignificant role considering the subject
matter, the characters of Hana and Lila, as well as Lila’s daughter Jonida
really shine. I loved how Dones presents all the characters as forceful and
single-minded: Lila and Hana spend as much time fighting as they do caring for
each other, and the interplay between the two is touching and realistic.
Equally, Dones draws a vivid picture of Albania from the mountainous poverty-stricken
villages of the North to the more cosmopolitan yet quirky city of Tirana. Dones
brings the country into high definition with her descriptions of life in the
villages and mountains, the interplay between northerners and southerner (why
are northerners always the peasants?!), the ongoing impact of communism,
strange and quirky characters who leap from the page. In contrast the American scenes seem flat and
grey, the country plays less part in Hana’s identity yet offers her the freedom
to be who she really is. Hana cannot return to her home country, at least not
as a woman.
There was huge scope in this book to explore a whole range
of different themes about identity, gender, immigration and the American dream
and perhaps that is why I found the book slightly disappointing. On the rear
cover Dones is described as a writer who is “unabashed by taboos of any kind”
and yet this book didn’t feel like it was taboo breaking. Rather it stood on an
interesting concept, a strange old Albanian tradition, and rather than explore
it, use it as a vehicle to uncover truths about identity and gender, rather the
focus was on Hana’s quest to lose her virginity, as though that was the one
thing which would make her a woman. Somehow it seemed a little thin to me, a
little superficial and consequently I found it a little annoying.
That being said the story was entertaining and not entirely without
weight, and it sent my mind spiralling in lots of different directions. I enjoy
stories which make you think, which this one definitely did. I just would have
liked it to make me think a little more and maybe present the idea of
fulfilment as a woman as being achieved without the assistance of a penis.
Sworn Virgin receives an identity questioning 7 out of 10
Biis.
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