Abdul Razak Gurnah: Desertion

Desertion is an apt title for a novel that abandons characters and story lines before they have fully developed. The novel begins in 1899 in a small town along the coast of Mombasa. A small shop owner Hassanali, of Indian descent, is on his way to the mosque early one morning. His journey is cut short by a wounded "mzungu" (European), who stumbles out of the desert.

The first four chapters are devoted to Martin Pearce's recuperation. He receives anxious care from Hassanali, his wife and his sister. They are frightened of the consequences that could befall them if the injured "mzungu" should die in their care. Pearce, an English writer, a traveller and "something of an Orientalist" is eventually returned to a British colonial administrator.

Unlike the other British characters in the novel, Pearce is no brute bent on ridding Africa of its African population: "This continent has the potential to be another America ... but not as long as the Africans are here."

When a humble Pearce returns to thank Hassanali and his family for saving him, he does the unthinkable and falls for Hassanali's sister, Rehana. The stage of the novel is set, but quickly gives way when the chapter "An Interruption" renders an abrupt halt to the story. The reader receives an account of Pearce's romantic pursuit of Rehana and the scant details of their unconvincing relationship — all this in 11 pages.

Part two of the novel begins with a new set of characters, with no apparent connection to the first half of the book. The time is now the 1950s.

The tale of Indian brothers Rashid, Amin and their sister Farida slowly unfolds. Another forbidden love affair transpires. Young Amin, still at university, falls in love with an older Jamila, who turns out to be the granddaughter of Rehana. Like the grandmother before her, Rehana is gossiped about and suffers a similar fate of "doomed" love.

It is only until the last short section of the novel that the reader learns the third-person narrator is actually older brother Rashid. His "accidental exile" in London while studying for his PhD is sweepingly treated — as are most of the narratives in this novel. As Zanzibar erupts into violence after independence Rashid can do nothing but continue his studies and send banal letters to his family back home.

Abdulrazak Gurnah has received considerable praise for his prior six novels. However, Desertion's stops and starts make engagement with the novel difficult. There are ingredients of a good historical novel, but the sum of Gurnah's narratives doesn't add up to a satisfactory whole.

* Gail Bailey is an Auckland reviewer.