The Servant

By Fatima Sharafeddine

Faten’s happy life in her village comes to an abrupt end when her father arranges for her to work as a servant for a wealthy Beirut family with two spoiled daughters. What does a bright, ambitious seventeen-year-old do when she is suddenly deprived of her friends, family, education and freedom? Could the mysterious, wealthy young man who lives in the next apartment building help?

When Faten finally manages to make contact with Marwan, a musician and engineering student, he helps her figure out a way to pursue her studies in secret. Even against the uncertain backdrop of the civil war, their romance develops, as the two conspire to exchange notes and meet at an idyllic seaside cafe. But in Lebanese society the differences in religion, class and wealth are stacked against them, and their parents have very different ideas about what their futures should be. When Marwan’s mother chooses a girl who will make him a suitable wife, Faten must pick up the pieces of her life and move forward. She does so, despite the odds, pursuing a job, an education and her independence.

And, in the end, it seems there may be room in her life yet for romance, and hope for a future where young people can determine their own destinies.

An engaging and lucidly written coming-of-age novel. Faten struggles to fulfill her potential in the midst of her society’s rigid expectations. She’s a nuanced, complex protagonist that any teenager can relate to — stubborn, impulsive and full of longing, but with the determination and smarts to keep her real dreams in sight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Release date: Apr 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781554983094

Fatima Sharafeddine

Fatima Sharafeddine is an award-winning Lebanese writer who has twice been nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. After receiving a B.A. in Early Childhood Education, she moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies. She now divides her time between Beirut and Brussels, where she writes and translates full time.

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The Servant

Fatima Sharafeddine

Groundwood Books

House of Anansi Press

Toronto / Berkeley

Copyright © 2013 by Fatima Sharafeddine

First published in 2010 in Arabic as Faten by Kalimat, P.O. Box 21969 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates www.kalimat.ae. Copyright © 2010 by Fatima Sharafeddine.

First published in English in Canada and the USA in 2013 by Groundwood Books.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Distribution of this electronic edition via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal. Please do not participate in electronic piracy of copyrighted material; purchase only authorized electronic editions. We appreciate your support of the author’s rights.

This edition published in 2013 by

Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press

110 Spadina Avenue, Suite 801, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2K4

or c/o Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing program the Canada Book Fund (CBF).

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Sharafeddine, Fatima

The servant / written and translated by Fatima Sharafeddine.

Translation of: Faten.

Also issued in electronic format.

ISBN 978-1-55498-309-4

I. Title.

PZ7.S5285Ma 2013 j892.7’37 C2012-905836-x

Cover design by LimeDesign

To Bassem, my companion on the road of life.

To Talah and Tamir, the lights of my days.

1

Faten remembers the day her parents took her from the village to Beirut. To Television Street, in the Tallet El Khayyat area.

The taxi ride seemed endless. No talking in the car, no radio. As silent as the deep sea. That day, she was scared. Scared of the city, of street wars and bombs. Scared of the unknown, and of what awaited her in this new life.

The trip from the southern mountain village to the coast seemed to go on forever. Roads, bends, left, right … She kept gazing at the beauty of the mountains and valleys until the sea and its horizon appeared. The car drove downhill to the coast. It got closer … and closer … until it reached the road that ran along the shore.

Faten saw the sea for the first time. How big it was! How majestic!

What if she opened the car door and ran toward the sea? Ran barefoot on the sand. Would the sand be hot or cold? If she stood on it, would her feet completely sink in until she was planted there like a tree?

And the waves. Faten wanted to jump right into them. Would she be stronger than the waves? Or would they swallow her whole?

Faten, stop crying! You’re acting like a child! bellowed her father. His voice broke the icy silence as he turned around in the front seat to see her face wet with tears and her long dark locks sticking to her cheeks.

I am a child, she wanted to yell. I am only fifteen years old! Have you forgotten? I want to go back home. I want to stay there with all of you. I want to slip into Mother’s bed when I feel sick. I want her to take me in her arms when I’m sad, to brush my hair and sew my dresses. I want to meet my girlfriends and go for walks, chat and laugh for any or no reason. I want to pick walnuts from the tree and stain my lips with their skin. I want to fill jugs with water from the well. I am a child!

But Faten did not answer her father that day. Not even with a look of reproach. She kept silent, staring through the window as the car drove north toward Beirut.

She was lost in her memories. Memories from her early childhood, from the early hours of that very morning when she left her village.

That day, she kept her feelings buried.

They arrived in the city. Beirut. Tall buildings — many disfigured by bullet holes of all sizes.

Look at what war has done to the city and its buildings, said the taxi driver, eager to show the village family the city he knew so well. The warring parties have not let any region escape their fierce fighting. May God be with the people of Beirut.

May God protect us all, said Faten’s mother, as she gently stroked her daughter’s hair.

When the car stopped in front of a tall building, her mother said in a warm tone, Do not disappoint us, my dearest. We have to raise your brothers and your sister. You know the situation. Be brave. Go to your new life now. We will call you and come and visit whenever we can.

dingbat.jpg

That was 1985. Two years have passed since Faten started working for the Zein family: Mrs. Samira, Mr. Hani and their two daughters, May and Sahar. She has only seen her mother three times since she started working. Twice during the Eid holidays and once when her mother brought Faten’s uncle to the hospital in Beirut.

Her father shows up on the first day of every month to collect her salary. Faten avoids him when he comes. She is mad at him. If she happens to open the door when he rings, she doesn’t kiss him. Her eyes do not even meet his. He takes her salary from Mr. or Mrs. Zein, and if he gets the chance, he gives her an icy stare before he leaves.

Faten feels that look penetrate her bones. It is as if he is saying, This money is our right. You have everything you need here.

Her mother calls once a month and talks to her for half an hour. She tells her the village news and talks about her little brothers and sister. When Faten complains that she misses them all so much and wants to go home for a visit, her mother answers, Be patient, my dear. You know this is not possible now. Hopefully soon. Hopefully soon.

If it weren’t for her mother’s love and encouragement, Faten would not have been able to endure her situation.

dingbat.jpg

This afternoon, like most afternoons, Faten stands on the kitchen balcony after she finishes all of her duties. She watches the fast cars passing by, waiting impatiently for the dark blue Mercedes to slow down and drive into the parking lot of the building across the street.

She sees him and smiles. She’s happy to get a nod from him as he locks his car.

She hurries inside before Mrs. Samira sees her and yells the usual. I’ve told you a hundred times I don’t want you standing on balconies! Don’t you understand?

The truth is that as soon as this woman notices Faten enjoying herself, she finds a reason to scold her and sends her off to do more cleaning, ironing or any other chore she can think up at the moment.

Faten goes to her small room, happy to have caught a look and a nod from the young blond man. She doesn’t know his name. She noticed him a few months ago, the day he moved into the building across from hers. Handsome man, she whispered to herself.

One day, while she was cleaning the balcony, she noticed the sound of music close by. She followed the sound with her eyes until she caught it in the apartment across from hers.

It was the new neighbor, bent over his piano.

After that, Faten started to pay attention to his daily routine. He wakes up at seven, then has coffee and fruit with his mother. He leaves his apartment, carrying his briefcase, around eight. A few minutes later she sees him getting into his blue car. He quickly takes off, disappearing after he turns right at the end of Television Street.

The young man does not return at a specific time. It’s always in the afternoon, but at a different hour each day. That’s why Faten keeps going back to the kitchen balcony, as if she were tied to it by a bungee cord. She waits for his car to appear at the end of the street. She follows it with her eyes as it approaches, slows down … and finally enters the parking lot.

At first the young man did not notice her watching him or waiting for him. But once he happened to look up at the second-floor apartment and caught her gazing at him. He smiled. She was so embarrassed she didn’t know what to do. She rushed inside to hide.

Shortly after he goes into his building, the young man appears in his apartment. Faten follows his movements from the corner of the little window in her room. He appears here. Disappears. Reappears there. Sometimes he plays the piano, and Faten watches. Her heart jumps at every glimpse she gets of him.

She has decided that he is an only child who lives with his parents. His family is wealthy and he doesn’t work. He must be a university student, studying business. On the days when he forgets to close the curtains of his bedroom, she sees

Reviews for The Servant

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First published in Arabic in 2010, this is an absorbing story of a teenager coming of age during the Lebanese civil war in 1987 determined to make more of her life than working as a maid for a wealthy family in Beirut, an arrangment her father made to help the family make ends meet. Sharrafeddine explores compelling conflicts and themes in the story: economic class, city life versus village life, the clash between tradition and modern society, and modern women challenging a strict patriarchal society. The story would probably have a stronger emotional impact if Sharafeddine had told the story in first person rather than third. Nonetheless, Servant is rich, insightful historical fiction about a brave young woman's self-determination. Pair this story with Zeina Abirached's graphic memoir, A Game for Swallows (Lerner, 2012).