Review of Mauresque

[Darlings O]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mauresque" by Anthony Gladstone-Thompson.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Mauresque by Anthony Gladstone-Thompson is a story of love, friendship, romance, betrayal, and a fight for gender equality, religion, and culture. The story revolves around the life of Jeremy Ashland, a westerner from England who sought work opportunities in Morocco, Africa. His kind of employment allows him access to the top guns of Morocco. He falls in love with Leila, the daughter of a top member of the Moroccan leadership who intends her marriage to a spouse of his choice will seal dynastic politics.

Jeremy shares in the fight of Leila and her group to overthrow the Sultan for being the chief of a structure that endorses suppression of minorities' rights, especially women. Things go awry when Jeremy is linked with the murder of his colleague who had brought him to Morocco and is discovered to have been a homosexual. So, Jeremy is accused of being a jealous homosexual lover and murderer in an Islamic nation. Around the same time, he is figured to be connected with the failed coup on the Sultan. As his colleague told him, only death and love have no solution. Jeremy is caught in the web of both, and there is no escape. He is faced with losing his freedom, his love, and his life.

If there are any positive aspects of the book, then it should be how Thompson expresses through his characters the realization to learn new things in order to have an advantage globally. This is exemplified by the need of the characters to learn the English language. I also liked the fight for the right of the minority in society. It exemplified actual fights going on in different countries.

There are several negatives in the book. First, some of the foreign words and conversations in foreign languages used in the book were not translated into English. This will pose a difficulty for one with no knowledge of the language to understand. Second, I find the book verbose and unnecessarily lengthy. Several unnecessary events were recorded in the book, and some of the events that took place were not eventually tied to the entire plot. For example, no reason was proffered as to why Jeremy's cleaner wanted him separated from Leila and what eventually happened with her. Third, the language employed in writing the book is complex and highly sophisticated, making comprehension difficult.

There are a few errors identified in the book. Also, when the book reached chapter 33, chapter 1 was written as the heading. Again, the contents of chapters 33 and 34 were repeated. This shows that the book needs to undergo another round of editing. So, I will be rating the book a 3 out of 5 stars. I did not deduct any other stars because the book had a wonderful storyline. I recommend this book to all persons who appreciate the preservation of culture.

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Mauresque
View: on Bookshelves

[Laney K]

Books that are quite long for no apparent reason are not my cup of tea so I probably won't be reading this one.