The Red Moon

by Kuwana Haulsey

"The moon was red on the night my mother died. Fat, fairly bursting, as I remember, it rode so low in the sky that it grazed the backs of the leopards who hissed and spat and cursed it for interrupting the hunt. It caressed the thorny tips of the acacia trees, bending them, seeming to crush them with light."

In The Red Moon , newcomer Kuwana Haulsey has crafted a strikingly beautiful coming-of-age story set amid the turbulent history of modern Kenya.

The novel centers on Nasarian, the daughter of a successful Samburu herdsman and his Somali fourth wife. On the verge of adulthood, Nasarian finds herself trapped between the demands of her traditional tribal life and her desire to live abroad as a writer. When her parents die suddenly, Nasarian's plan to escape her sheltered world is undermined by her scornful brother Lolorok. Disgusted by Nasarian's refusal to be circumcised and thus initiated into the traditional role of wife and mother, Lolorok allows his sister to be inherited by a distant cousin.

Nasarian is convinced that no matter how hard she fights, she will never be allowed to call her life her own. She is dogged by the memory of her father, who was caught in the midst of a brutal war, branded with the name Mau Mau, imprisoned as a terrorist. She is haunted by the spirit of her mother, captured in a bloody raid and destined, like Nasarian, to be an outcast.

Nasarian runs away, sparking a sweeping journey of discovery that evokes fifty years and three generations of her family history. Weaving ancient myth and folklore into the tapestry of Nasarian's personal quest, The Red Moon chronicles the yearning of a brave young woman while simultaneously depicting a nation's equally fierce search for a truthful and lasting spiritual independence.

Stunning in its revelations, The Red Moon portrays incisively a way of life rarely glimpsed by those who have not experienced its richness and survived its terror. With an intensity rare in modern fiction, The Red Moon takes readers into the heart of an incredibly courageous young woman.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2001

Reviews

[Fauuzzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all honesty, in The Red Moon, the abundance of superfluous description clouded over the actual story.

However, I want to honor the author for her writing with regards to cultural accuracy. I read this for a Kenyan Literature class as I was traveling in Kenya and Tanzania, and I spent some time with the Maasai tribes' people (a tribe pretty much identical to the Samburu) and the culture portrayed is accurate, if albeit a little outdated.

If you're one not particularly inclined to excessively romanticized prose, then I would not recommend The Red Moon for you. However, if you don't mind, and would like insight into Samburu and Kenyan culture, definitely check it out.

[António]

Olhem, na verdade não li este livro. Do I care? Absolutely not. Li "Dona Genoveva e Tibino". Contudo, esse livro não existe no GoodReads e não o consigo adicionar. Por isso, este equivale ao que li. Um resto de bom dia.

[Cubierocks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing, but full of beautiful imagery.

[Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on an obscure shelf at B&N on sale. It is the first novel of the author and in ways it shows. The book lacked legitimacy (proven in the "Conversation with the author" at the end of the book. The story takes place in Kenya, yet the author had never been there until she wrote the book. Well, even though it does become somewhat apparent especially during the first half -- there was a compelling story hidden in this book which I found extraordinary. I wish she had expanded on certain themes, explained others a bit more fully - but all in all, a book that explores the some of the old customs of tribal Africa as well as a very small hint at modern Africa, male and female circumcision are also explored but again, not in the detail I would have liked. It was a broad concept in a short book and so, a mixed bag.

[Dessarae · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Red Moon by Kuwana Haulsey focuses on the main character Nasarian, daughter of a Samburu herdsman, and her struggle between identities and responsibility. She is caught between her tribal life and her desired life of a writer abroad. When her parents suddenly pass, Nasarian plans to lead the life she’s always wished for, but is held up by many obstacles that get in her way. Her endless determination soon drives her to run away and she embarks on this unexpected miraculous journey of discovery and spiritual awakening. This story, I think, would be a great read for anyone, especially ones who are interested in learning what life in other cultures consists of. I enjoyed this book very much and would honestly read it again. I liked how the book had a poetic feel, it was very lyrical in a sense. The author had a way of arranging things that makes the book desirable and resonating. Definitely a book to remember!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, evocative prose and one of those stories that is constantly full of heartbreak and hope.

[Crease · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I've found that few are keen, dedicated, and brutal enough to make love to the details and depths of life."

Nasarian, an aspiring writer, is, quite literally, the living embodiment of the winds of change experienced by her clan, the Samburu tribe of Kenya.

Despite coming together as a result of incredible tragedy, a great love grows between her parents: Ngatuny, her father, determined to guide the clan free of outside influences, as their ancestors had lived for hundreds of years," and Nima, a Somalian Muslim, lithe, "with a slim, European nose and bronze skin."

Though Nasarian is allowed to pursue her studies much further than her siblings, her determination to succeed fails to insulate her from tragedy. Truly shocking events take place; decisions are made that reverberate like a four-way crash at the intersection of tradition and education.

At the risk of incredible pretentiousness, Hausley's writing style is very lyrical, very poetic. Among the best examples is the the quote with which I begin this review, while at other times she'll describe a moment in time as "fat with nothingness." For one such as myself, time spent contemplating "fat with nothingness" made for a longer read than expected for a 260 page novel.

Regardless, based on this book and her second "An Angel in Harlem," I plan to buy/read everything she writes.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere under all the insuffereable purple prose and endless descriptive text in this book is a good story screaming to get out. Page after page of lines like this: "These tired thoughts of mine lay bruised and scattered on the ground in front of my toes, flitting back and forth like the clouds of fat black termites that come flying up out of the ground after a heavy rain." and "I awoke to the rich smell of bygone rain, the sound of doves weeping and the trembling of sodden, prickly leaves crashing against the loam." Thoughts like fat black termites? Just what is the sound of doves weeping?
Add to this mix some implausible plot turns. A hopeless alcoholic step sister, so desperate that she gives up gaudianship of her only daughter, who evenually dies from mistreatment, ends up have been only pretending to be a drunk so that she can steal her husbands fortune who himself was only pretending to be deperately poor so that she can send our protagonist to boarding school!

The author does successuly invoke the vivissitudes and realities of tribal life in colonial Kenya. I think a if she had kept her story in those times and about the events centered around the Mau-Mau uprisings and the British colonists the it would have been a better book.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book that gave me a glimpse of a culture I'll probably never encounter on my own. Haulsey tells the story, in flashback with first person narration, of Nasarian, a woman who grew up as a "half caste" in Kenya. Her father was Samburu, her mother Somali. When both parents are killed by raiding tribesmen, Nasarian runs away because she refuses to submit to female circumcision. She eventually goes to live with a distant cousin and does well enough in school to go to university. This story is about becoming an individual and how much of your family/tribe/culture you assimilate in that change. One character tells Nasarian that without family she is nothing, and yet there is no way for her to return to her tribal life. This is a well-written book, and I learned a lot about Nasarian's culture. The author says the entire plot came to her when she was sitting on the floor of her Brooklyn apartment, then she went to Africa to research the story. Amazing.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was a bit of a shocker. I know it's me and my Westernized thinking, but I could help but think 'that two timing Augustine got what he deserved.' Nasarian confessed her whole life to him- he knew her weaknesses. He is sweet to her and the two become lovers. All the while he had a wife at home AND he wanted Nasarian circumcised before he married her (although he had no problem sleeping with her and getting her knocked up with her having a clitoris and labia). He knew how she felt about that and what had happened to Naiseku (sp?) and how Nasarian's mother had been treated. I couldn't feel bad for him.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, what an experience of inter- and intratribal, male-female, intrafamily relationships in Kenya! Fascinating setting, but as a story it didn't quite convince me--many passages felt overblown, with such a piling up of remarkable similes that some were invariably lost in the shuffle.

I'm glad I read it, but it definitely has a first-novel feel & I'm not sure I'll ever reread it.

I closed it with a sense of relief, thinking, Now I really have to find & read some good novels that are NOT about the sufferings of women . . .

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story. The resolution was disappointing in that the protagonist didn't seem true to her character. She experienced an extreme trauma but comes away enlightened in the final pages. I didn't buy it. But overall this is a great read. The many stories are tightly woven together.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel started out good, but unfolded jerkily, like the author was making stuff up with no rhyme or reason. Informative about parts of Kenya but overly descriptive at times.

[Torry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very colorful novel, a must read for those who love a lyrical writing style.