This is a very interesting read, two brothers spending time in Morocco before the area became touristy, when there was a mistrust of the French and their modernising ideas. At times it also feels like a love story, the brothers writing (of which it is impossible to tell there are two separate writers) comes across at first as rather imperialist, at one point they say Morocco is lucky the French are there to help instead of somebody else wanting to take advantage, to defending the country and almost becoming one with it’s people.

The brothers immerse themselves in the culture really well, they understood (and followed) the rules, the laws and how the people act with each other, because of this you could see they earned a certain amount of trust, getting invited to places and events that outsiders previously wouldn’t have witnessed. It is these experiences that shape the trilogy, the reader gets to share some incredible scenes, in particular a wedding. Its sheer scale and traditions is mind boggling, I got the feeling that the only way these events were successful was down to the number of people involved.

There were a few moments where the writing gets a bit risque, describing the Jewish quarter had me sucking the air through me teeth and at the beginning the western opinions of the locals really showed but the more time they spent there those opinions soon vanished…at one point when a French fairground turned up they were outraged at how everybody suddenly changed when seeing all these modern toys.

The books are well written and I’m glad I got to read about Morocco in the old days, it seems to have been an intense culture that would have been overwhelming to witness. Another fine book published by the mighty Eland.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2022/08/28/a-moroccan-trilogy-rabat-marrakesh-and-fez-by-jerome-and-jean-tharaud/