Review: Sight, insight and oversight beautifully depicted.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2013
In a story that blends science with mysticism, reincarnation with Catholicism, and blindness with sight, Anjuelle Floyd's Seasons in Purdah is a tale of America's successful misfits and the need for individuality  underlying the desire to belong.Purdah is a Muslim tradition of female seclusion. Viewed from one angle it's a trap or a jail, but it's protection too, a safe place to rest after trials, and a gift of love. Sahel's marriage offers her protection in her blindness, but it serves as well as a kind of purdah or purgatory, waiting before the joy of true life can begin.Seasons in Purdah repeats images and symbols from many cultures, blending them into the tale of a love triangle. Dark-skinned Sahel, light-skinned Titus, and darker Carl have been friends from childhood, making mudcakes together in an oft-remembered scene. But each memory lends a different shade of light to the blindness of unknowing. Protected Sahel wants more. Carl wants more for her. And the intruder, James, wants nothing and everything.Strongest in its depiction of a woman coming to terms with her blindness, this novel covers lots of ground, from physical ailments to the meaning of dreams, and from breaking marriages to bonds of love. It's an oddly captivating novel, despite the slow, introspective read; and it's a powerfully visual novel despite the main character's excellently depicted blindness.Healer, heal yourself, is the call of our time. But time can heal too, and seclusion, and purdah perhaps.Disclosure: The author kindly gave me a free ecopy of this novel. I'm just sorry it took me so long to get around to reading it.