Moirae

Moirae was an interesting read for me, thanks in part to the stream of consciousness style in which it is written. What this means is that the book runs in a ‘free flow’ with little in the way of punctuation and a focus instead of letting the story run its course in a natural way. While it can be said that this style of writing is divisive amongst readers, one thing that you often hear is that it will put you straight into the character’s heads, perhaps even more so than conventional styles. While how much this rings true will vary from person to person, I really do recommend that you give it a try. Once you find a natural rhythm, you’ll breeze through the book with relative ease.

Now, the story itself will take you to some uncomfortable places. While set on the fictional world of ‘Lost Winds’, the book takes you through some unfortunately familiar issues such as rape, oppression and political unrest. That is not to say that the book is without uplifting moments however. After all, even in the darkness, a light can still shine. Faith also features as a strong theme throughout the story, which will no doubt resonate. In particular, the familial conflict of MD converting to a religion that worships the same God as his family, but different is something that will be familiar to many on one level or another. While the situation is different, the sheer number of different Christian denominations always comes to mind for me when reading such things: all worshipping the same God but at times viewing others with disdain for a different interpretation of the same texts.

In summary, Moirae’s style and subject matter ensure that it is not an easy read, but it is a rewarding one. Find your way through the rich world that Mehreen has created, and you’ll be glad to have given the book a shot.

A free copy was supplied by the author in return for an honest review.

The central theme of Moirae is hope. Set against a backdrop of poverty, laden with a sense of helplessness from living under an autocratic, tyrannical regime, Nalia struggles to come to terms with the loss of her newly-wed husband after he's arrested for profiteering. There follows a disturbing, yet familiar and sometimes dream-like narrative on human oppression which is cleverly woven into the lives of the characters that helps bring each of their stories to life.

Although unfamiliar with the stream of consciousness style of writing, I began to find myself feeling as though I were reading the author's unedited thoughts which gave it a strange kind of authenticity. There are some colourful and poetic descriptive passages which help provide a vivid sense of place, like 'West Mountains stood in the backdrop, with all its alluring blue haze; the clouds floated straight into its summits. Craggy and green, the stalwart peaks stood the ravages of time'.

Mehreen is clearly a deep thinker and Moirae is an ambitious book with many historical and literary references. There's some interesting nuggets of wisdom buried in the narrative, such as 'Life's journey was at odds. It could pass without fully understanding exactly what we were supposed to do here; what paths to take and what the cosmic plan of our existence meant'. Moirae, however, is not an easy read in terms of the reality of the difficult themes the book contends with. But, despite this, there is an overriding sense of hope – hope for an end to the violence and killing, hope of an end to hunger, hope to be in control of one's own destiny and the hope for love in all its forms. 

For life to have any worth or meaning, there has to be hope. The following sentence towards the end of the book captures this point perfectly: 'However aspirations, dreams were some of the most powerful components that also held life from falling apart. They propelled life towards the fulfilment of a destiny'.

Mehreen Ahmed is a wildly interesting writer. Moirae is not the first book from the Queensland scribe that I’ve read, but it is undoubtedly the best, most mature work. This is a nebulous yet - paradoxically perhaps – razor sharp text that speaks to the reader on a number of intellectual levels. Ahmed somehow manages to blend stream of consciousness type prose with a sure knack for story telling, and the results are no less than delightful. If you think about it, this kind of mixture is one that few writers have the ability – or the audacity – to attempt. Joyce is one exception that springs to mind, but he is probably an exception that only proves the rule. Jack Kerouac maybe. Either way, with this work, it is obvious that Ahmed joins a very select group indeed. Thoroughly recommended for both its technical beauty and, not inconsiderably, its bravery.

Ever since James Joyce introduced the concept of “stream of consciousness,” I have been fascinated by this literary technique. It was against this background that I eagerly approached “Moirae” written by Mehreen Ahmed. I was not disappointed as she traversed the silent land of the Lost Winds. I loved the description of the arrest of Nalia’s newly wedded husband as the police discovered the huge sum of money he had stolen. I was fascinated to find banshees in India which I had thought were unique to Ireland and Highland Scotland. I was also intrigued to find that her disgraced husband was found profiteering from illegal transportation of people fleeing from persecution, shades of our current problems in the Mediterranean. Ms Ahmed now had my undivided attention as I sailed through a most enjoyable read. 

Stream of consciousness soup laced with lucid dreaming and spiced with magical realism—served with a side of almost, but not quite conventional, narrative:  this story of “children of the lesser gods,” down and out in a world that cares not what happens to them as they hope against hope to find peace and fulfilment is not for the faint of heart.

Progressively, sometimes simultaneously, the river of thoughts, feelings and conscious reactions of Mehreen Ahmed’s vividly drawn characters to the events occurring in their lives lays bare the oppressive underbelly of the societies they find themselves in. On the surface, it’s a tale of a vicious world, a tale of flight from unjust oppression in a nation state that would crush the body and soul into another that doesn’t want you. It is a novel of struggle and hope against all odds, “where killing mugging bloody Spillage were now all a part of our normal life,” depicted mostly in a continuous stream of consciousness flow uninterrupted either by conventional description, dialogue, punctuation, spelling, or grammar.

It is a challenging read, though once you become accustomed to the unique style, it carries you like the river Murma that flows through the village of the characters' birth and spiritual home. Where Nalia, Pontu, Tahu, Pael and Mohammed each begin a journey in which their illusions and aspirations, sometimes literally their dreams, “hold life from falling apart, and propel them toward the fulfilment of a destiny.” Literary and historical references float like lotus pads among the flotsam and jetsam of the river their lives and the tale become, until each current of the river finds its source, its destiny, good or bad.

In the end, “the presence of the paradoxical absence of the ONE, and His selective random process as to who won and who didn’t was one of those many unresolved puzzles. However, His existence was as immutable as the law of gravity to the faithful.” In the end, you cannot help but be moved by this powerful, well-written, beautifully conceived tale.

Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.