Fes is a Mirror
A Novella
Support the novel from my local Black bookstore Sankofa Books in DC where the novel launched at their shop on bookshop.org easily here.
I hate how quiet it's kept that Chantal James is one of the most brilliant writers writing. I read Fes Is a Mirror faithfully, amazed at the level of skill, of world-creation, and of wisdom contained within its pages. James is so careful with her characters, no matter how reckless their situations. She's so intentional with her language and every sentence is delicious. It's the kind of book you throw across the room because it pierces your heart, but you pick back up again and cradle because it's so beautiful. No lie: Fes Is a Mirror is a masterwork.
--Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets, finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction
About FES IS A MIRROR
In Fes is a Mirror, Sheep, abandoned in the wild as an infant and left to live her formative years among animals, was taken in by Aziz's family in the south of Morocco, growing more and more a part of the human community as time passes but never developing the capacity for speech. When Aziz flees to the city of Fes, he takes Sheep with him, and the two forge a life together there. Aziz finds himself imprisoned and sends a student he meets in jail, Rachid, to see about Sheep upon his release. Fascinated by her and seeking a way in, Rachid introduces Sheep to his Brooklyn-bred cousin Aisha, who teaches her to spin American hip-hop records. Sheep's rising skill as a DJ provides refuge to the people of Fes as the historic bread riots of December 1990 rage against the Moroccan monarchy's violent suppression. In alternating voices Aziz, Rachid, and Aisha spin the voiceless Sheep's story, and none of them can help projecting their personal needs onto her. Can Sheep escape what others claim for her, even what they call love, to determine herself? Or will she be reclaimed by the wilderness?