The Attack: a Novel

by: Yasmina Khadra, trans. from French by John Cullen

Published by: Anchor Books

Reviewed by Janelle Martin

Dr. Amin Jaafari is the poster boy for integration. An Arab-Israeli citizen from a Bedouin family, he is apolitical by Tel-Aviv standards and focuses on saving lives. After a devastating bombing injures many in a local restaurant, Dr. Jaafari tirelessly attends to the injured. He has barely fallen asleep when he is called back to the hospital and learns the shocking truth: his wife’s body has been found in the wreckage bearing left by the suicide bombings. Unable to accept the mounting evidence against Sihem, the modern and intelligent woman he married, Dr. Jaafari leaves Tel Aviv to find answers. But in a world where fundamentalists bomb to find solutions, will Dr. Jaafari be able to understand, let alone accept, his wife’s actions?

Yasmina Khadra’s new novel The Attack, presents a man struggling to understand a life-shattering event. For most of the Western world, terrorism invokes images of collapsing towers. For residents of the Middle East, terrorism is a more immediate reality. Suicide bombers are part of daily life and The Attack provides a window into the belief system which can lead to such violent action.

Author Khadra, the female pseudonym of former soldier Mohammed Moulessehoul, is strongest when writing the poignant passages where Dr. Jaafari wrestles with his memories and beliefs of his wife. Sihem has not only blown up a restaurant, she has shattered Dr. Jaafari’s illusions, stripping away his belief in their perfect existence. He is a shadow of his former self, wrestling with personal demons and the overwhelming need to understand how he failed his wife.

Unfortunately, the downfall of The Attack is the failure to present a compelling reason why Sihem would become a suicide bomber. Female bombers are a rare occurrence and Sihem requires strong reasons to be convincing as one. Khadra doesn’t provide it and readers are left with the impression of a lost soul, swayed by strong personalities, rather than a committed fanatic prepared to martyr herself.

The Attack is disturbing but has much to teach readers who can see past the violence. If Khadra had presented a stronger heroine, this novel would have been exceptional.

Armchair Interviews says: Unique look at suicide bombings.

Author’s Web site is in French, but Google will translate: http://www.yasmina-khadra.com