![]() ![]() Through it all, narcissistic, calculating, and ever-amusing Rosa is our window on the fate of her family. It is this obsession, this possessiveness of Aminat that drives Rosa’s actions and shapes her relationships throughout the story, from falsifying documents to suicide attempts to estrangement and eventual reconciliation. ![]() But a little girl-Aminat-bests all of Rosa’s efforts, and when she proves to resemble Rosa more than Sulfia, she immediately becomes the center of her grandmother’s world. When Sulfia arrives home at the communal apartment and announces that she is pregnant and must have conceived in a dream, Rosa tries everything she can think of to thwart the birth. These kinds of machinations are the heart of Alina Bronsky’s novel The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, and Rosa’s unwavering determination extends to all of her endeavors, including an attempt to rid Sulfia of an unplanned pregnancy. ![]() Her daughter, whom she mercilessly refers to as “stupid Sulfia,” has had two previous husbands, in large part due to Rosa’s manipulation. But this is not the first marriage plot Rosa has orchestrated. Rosa Achmetowna is determined to get her family (and herself-really, mostly herself) out of the Soviet Union, and a marriage between her daughter and a visiting German national seems like the perfect plan. I’ve heard they wash the streets with shampoo there.” ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |