Review by AzRevRead -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch

[Azrevread]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Keys to Tetouan" by Mois Benarroch.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Keys to Tetouan (170 pages)
By Mois Benarroch, translated by Orna Taub
Publish Date: September 2, 2016
ISBN (13): 978-1507153789
Publisher: Babelcube Inc.
Pictures: pages 3 and 165

Keys To Tetouan is the debut literary work of Historic Fiction by Mois Benarroch about
subjects very close to the poet and novelist- Morocco and Judaism. The book was originally
written in Hebrew, then translated into English. Both the author and the translator
accomplished the goal of clearly creating a unique view of immigration and emigration
through the experiences of generations of the fictional Benzimra family. When I began
reading this novel, I expected to have a better understanding of the differences between
immigration and emigration by reading about the experiences of a multicultural family.
I did get a better understanding- the novel teaches the difference to reader by providing
short stories that show examples of religious intolerance.

This novel traces a nearly 150 year fictional family history of the Benzimras- a
family that constantly emigrates from Morocco and immigrates to several major cities around
the world. The story of the Benzimra family begins in the city of Tetouan, Morocco- the
birthplace of the patriarchal and matriarchal members of the family. They also manage to
make their mark on the cultures that they emigrate to: Brazil to find employment, Venezuela
to avoid being harassed for being Jewish, Israel to sell insurance and to other countries
for reasons that usually relate to a need for religious tolerance. The tone of voice, the
multi-worded sentences, the unique words all clearly present to the reader the urgency,
the vagueness and the stigma surrounding the issues of antisemitism.

"Tetouan 1996" is the section of the book that seems to explain why the novel is
listed as Historical Fiction, Cultural Heritage, or Religious and Inspirational, instead of
Nonfiction or an Autobiography of the author- even though the author was born in Morocco.
The fictional writer in the novel notices how the world around him is changing and how
important it is to write the history of Tetouan, Morocco. He sees the rapid population
growth, along with the changing social climate and economic times replacing the original
familiar places that he knew when he lived there. I had the impression that Mois Benarroch
preferred to weave fictional events in with real historical events because in certain
situations the factual information can't be obtained or it is intrusive to reveal personal
and family facts or real events.

I was expecting the word “maybe” to be capitalized in a sentence on page 139
because the word was at the beginning of a sentence. After reading most of the novel, I
realized that the sentence isn’t just listed as the possible meaning of Jerusalem exile,
it’s one of the reasons for the immigrations and emigrations of several members of the
fictional Benzimra family. I disagree with the statement below because I don't see how two
sentences can define the views of every member of a religious group. Both sentences still
seemed to resonate as a motivating factor throughout Keys to Tetouan:

'maybe that’s the meaning of the Jerusalem exile, of the fall of the
Holy Temple, that we are always exiles, that we only fought for one
land all over history, one specific territory, against the Romans,
against the Greek, the Jebusite, and the Girgashites, against Britain
and against the Arabs, we were willing to fight for this only. That means
that the Jews never felt at home anywhere, they felt very close to it, so
close they felt more related to the people in the countries they lived in
than to Jews in other countries, but not close enough to stand up
for their rights.'

This is my second review of a novel by Mois Benarroch, the previous novel is The Stealer of
Memories. Both novels show his unique writing style where he works with a translator to
present short stories of varying genres that relate to living in or emigrating from the
country of Morocco, and the lifestyle of Judaism. Although the subject matter in both novels
was similar, the language in Keys To Tetouan wasn't as graphic or cryptic as the language
in The Stealer of Memories. The main reason why I decided to read the second novel is
because Mois Benarroch was awarded the Prime Ministers Prize in 2009 and the Yehuda Amichai
Prize 2012.

Mois Benarroch accomplished his goal of telling a family history and Judaic history with a level
of detail that made the stories and the characters seem real and a sensitivity that makes the
novel relevant to current issues. Because of the reasons mentioned previously- I believed that
the novel deserved at least three stars. I decided to rate the novel at 3 out of 4 stars
because of the minor errors that might confuse the reader - especially if they are new
readers of Religious and Inspirational or Jewish Literature. After reading the first novel of The
Tetouan Trilogy, I plan to read the next two books in the trilogy: (Ways To) Lucena and
Gates To Tangier. I would recommend this book to readers who like to read Historical
Fiction, Religious and Inspirational, and Jewish Literature. The subject matter in the novel may
also be of interest to readers who wonder why many issues surrounding immigration and
emigrants are so complicated.

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Keys to Tetouan
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Like AzRevRead's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Manang Muyang]

I have read two novels by Mois Benarroch and am somehow familiar with his unique writing style and the autobiographical feel of his stories. I also agree that he writes with sensitivity and detail that make his characters come alive.

[Azrevread]

Thank you for reading my review! I think that Mois Benarroch writes in a unique
style, very poetic. His combination of being a writer/poet, is a creative way of getting his ideas across to his readers.

[Jaime Lync]

Good review! I have read about 4 books by this author and his writing style is really unique. However, my copies have always been tainted with grammatical and editorial flaws. Hope you enjoy the rest of the Tetouan trilogy.

[EMoffat]

I have also read and reviewed this book. I found it hard to follow, mainly because of the choppy writing style. I also found it riddled with errors, again taking away from the joy of the story. Thanks for the review

[jemgirl202]

Wow great review!!

[Azrevread]

Jaime Linc wrote: "Good review! I have read about 4 books by this author and his writing style is really unique. However, my copies have always been tainted with grammatical and editorial flaws. Hope you enjoy the rest of the Tetouan trilogy"

Thank you for reading my review. I agree that the author's writing style is very unique.
I've been reading the epub versions of books by Mois Benarroch and have found errors.
I still think that he is an excellent writer, and I think I will like reading the other two
books of the trilogy.

-- 03 Jun 2017, 16:38 --

[

Emoffat wrote: I have also read and reviewed this book. I found it hard to follow, mainly because of the choppy writing style. I also found it riddled with errors, again taking away from the joy of the story. Thanks for the review

Thank you for reading my review. You certainly have a right to express your opinion about the
author's writing style. I agree, there are errors in the book. One of the reasons why I chose to read
the book was because I thought it would be interesting to review a book that was translated
into English from a foreign language.

-- 04 Jun 2017, 17:28 --

jemgirl202 wrote: Wow great review!!

Thank you for reading the review! I liked reading the novel, it was very educational.

111lovelymay wrote: The novel is so interesting. Its a real life to story....
Good job to the reviewer.!!!!!!

Thank you for reading the review! I believed that the storyline was thought-provoking.

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you for the insightful review! I haven't read any of this author's works, so I'm not familiar with his unique writing style. I've been a bit afraid to actually because I've had a recent experience where a book was translated and it was poorly translated. According to those who read it in the original language (Italian), the writing was simply beautiful, but those of us who read the English translation found the story was lacking in a lot of areas. But, I've read some reviews here of those who enjoy this author's work, so maybe one day I will give it a try! Thank you for sharing!

[Azrevread]

Thank you hsimone, for reading my review! The author of the novel writes with a distinct poetic style.
I think he chooses to work with certain translators in an effort to preserve his unique
writing style and stories.