The Moor's Account in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Nov 10, 2015 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fascinating historical fiction detailing one of the first encounters of Spain with the New World and told through the eyes of a slave. Heartbreaking yet hopefully. Beautiful yet brutal. Highly recommend this.

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Dec 05, 2014 Robyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016

This is an interesting work, recreating the unfortunate and doomed exploration of Florida by Panfilo Navarez and subsequent extraordinary journey of a ragtag band of Spanish hidalgos, settlers, and slaves. We know this story from the account made by Cabeza de Vaca when he finally made it back to northern Mexico, accompanied by the last three of the expedition, including a Moorish slave called Esteban.

This is their journey, as narrated by Esteban - or, as he was rightfully called Mustafa ibn Muh This is an interesting work, recreating the unfortunate and doomed exploration of Florida by Panfilo Navarez and subsequent extraordinary journey of a ragtag band of Spanish hidalgos, settlers, and slaves. We know this story from the account made by Cabeza de Vaca when he finally made it back to northern Mexico, accompanied by the last three of the expedition, including a Moorish slave called Esteban.

This is their journey, as narrated by Esteban - or, as he was rightfully called Mustafa ibn Muhammad. Because so little is known about him, Lalami is able to fill in the backstory as she wants and give the reader a new perspective on this misbegotten colonial effort. Her Mustafa is a Moroccan who sold himself into slavery to save his family, an educated Muslim with a kind heart.

The choice of Mustafa as narrator is a fascinating one to me. Much of the Spanish colonial procedure was learned from the Reconquista; seeing it through the eyes of a Muslim reinforces this neatly. Once on their own, it is interesting to watch him continue to navigate the line between slave and free man.

I enjoyed the way Lalami mimicked the style of 16th century memoirs without actually copying them; she gives the modern reader so many of the details you long for when reading Cabeza de Vaca's memoirs. If I were still teaching it would be wonderful to pair these! In many places she subtly undermines Cabeza de Vaca's account and his self-flattery. (And in others it is more outright than that!)

I was a bit disappointed that so much of the book is spent on the initial Florida expedition, as I had been looking forward to the latter half of their trials far more (especially once Cabeza de Vaca began to be hailed as a medicine man and traded from tribe to tribe). But the way Lalami does describe the pure alienation, frustration, and terror of trying to fit into such a different society was worth it. In return, the pain of reintegration into Spanish society is beautifully described. And, lastly .... that ending. I loved it. ...more

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