Making Friends with the Crocodile

by Mick Canning

There is an Indian If you live by the banks of a river, make friends with the crocodile. Set in India, this is a novel about the corrosive relationship between a mother and daughter-in-law, and the position which women hold within that society. Siddiqa’s son has brought his new wife, Naira, to live with them, so Siddiqa is no longer the lowest of the household, for she now has a daughter-in-law to assume that role. But when Naira accuses one of her husband’s friends of sexually assaulting her, all their lives begin to spiral out of control.

156 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2016

Reviews

[RICHARD CROSFIELD]

This beautifully written story, set in a village in Bihar, draws you in from its first page. We see the household through the eyes of Siddiqa, wife of Maajid, mother of two school-age girls and her son Tariq, who is married to Naira. We are drawn into the rivalry between Siddiqa and Naira, in a society where the men are the only wage earners and the women's lives must, by tradition, revolve around their wishes. Small incidents pile up, one after another, as the underlying harmony of the household is fractured by the resentment and self-loathing of Naira. The family is Moslem, the village is a mix of Moslem and Hindu, and one incident threatens the uneasy cohabitation of the two communities. The police, seen as a hostile force in the village, get involved with an unpredictable outcome to the novel.
Reading Making Friends with the Crocodile I felt I was living in the simple house and its small yard, alive to the sounds, smells and sights of rural India; the spices in the kitchen, the interminable cups of chai, and the daily routine that fills the life of Siddiqa and her daughter-in-law Naira. The claustrophobic atmosphere in which these two women live, waiting for the familiar sound of the motorbike that will bring Maajid and Tariq back from the nearest town, is delicately drawn by the author.
Making Friends with the Crocodile is a very fine book. And it takes us into the harsh reality of the life of women in rural India, much more effectively than any official report.

[Corinne Harrison]

I found Mike Canning at the Tunbridge Wells literary festival and, as usual, was trying not to buy too many books to add to my increasingly stacked collection! The book caught my eye instantly and I knew I couldn't pass this one up.

It's a fascinating read, and although the focus is simply a traditional family in a small Indian village, the scope is wide, focusing on every day life in India, the struggle between Hindus and Muslims (even in this small setting), family values, the hierarchy between men and women and even mother-in-law over daughter-in-law, and of course, the systematic abuse and subjugation of women. It's an ode to any woman who has suffered at the hands of domestic abuse. I tore through the book, wanting to know what happened next. Its a stunning depiction of life in India and a story that's stayed with me.

[Kathryn Guillaum]

What a life!

Such a beautiful country ...and so much misery, violence, and predjudice.
I'm hoping it isn't so awful everywhere.
Exce!!ent writing and if the events are hyper fiction, the author convinced me that I am blessed not to live in that region

[Stuart Aken]

Some writers have obviously occupied the place they’re writing about. Mick Canning is one such. The immersive depth of settings in this book is so great that the reader feels like a resident.

But this book is primarily about injustice and casual cruelty to women in India. That this is a traditional aspect of life is also made clear in this account written from the point of view of a wife and mother trapped by her background and circumstances. That’s not to say there’s no lightness or humour, but this is a story exposing deeply damaging cultural customs and attitudes that demean women and deny them their natural rights as human beings.

Set in a small village, one of maybe a million such communities on the sub-continent, this short novel is bursting with atmosphere and humanity. The writer inhabits the very soul of his narrator, expressing her self-doubts, her familial concerns, her cultural misgivings, without ever making her strident or condemnatory. The reader is taken on a journey that reaches an end as inevitable as it is saddening. Along the route, insights into a culture often unaffected by religious differences are exposed and examined. The reader is forced to confront awkward questions about the selfishness and duplicity of the male in such societies. As a westerner, it’s tempting to feel superior about cultural acceptance of the equality of women, but there’s a warning here about how shallow such concerns lie beneath the veneer of civilisation.

This is a novel with depth and real emotional involvement. Told simply and with an honesty that defies disbelief at events and attitudes, it packs some serious punches. It’s a story that will live with me for a long time, and one that has materially altered my opinions about certain cultural norms. Researched in real depth and related in language that fits the narrator so well, it’s a very good read. I shall be looking out for more from this author.

[Mick Canning]

My own book, so I won't rate or review!

[Molly]

Attracted to the book by its intriguing title and fascinated by the subject of rural life in India I was eager to read it. The narrative immediately drew me in, the voice so familiar and engaging. Siddiqui is a caring mother, making do with her life as it is decided by others, mainly. As the pages turn we find that the life is not as great as she tells herself that it is. Attitudes towards women - by men and women alike - are not great either.
Drama unfolds with an incident around a gate that was left open and then around a man following a woman on the street. Prejudice, gossip, judgement and female oppression come to life through these events. Cleverly plotted but executed often in effective understated ways this will move you and provoke many a thought.
Written with a very authentic style and beautiful prose, this was a remarkable find for me. Impressive and skillful writing with an important message, this is very recommendable.

[Bryan Murphy]

Mick Canning depicts quiet lives of ordinary desperation, in an Indian context. Although the "million mutinies" of which Naipaul writes have rescued India from famine and penury, it now needs a million more to deliver it from social, sexual and religious prejudices like those which bedevil the life of the narrator and her family. Canning is convincing as a female narrator whose first-generation literacy proves of little use against sheer misfortune and the forces of bigotry. Nevertheless, the author hints at hope in the form of the narrator's two young daughters, who can not only read and write but are attending school full-time. One feels that they're not going to take it and will surely break their mother's heart by leaving the village to forge a better life for themselves and their own children. Canning is an acute observer of nature as well as human nature, and his prose flows.