The next book up for review is Behind the Courtyard Door : The Daily Life of Tribeswomen in Northern Morocco, by Ursula Kingsmill Hart.
The author lived in Morocco as a child, but she wasn’t able to visit the more remote parts of the country until she married anthropologist David Montgomery Hart – and then she ended up living among the Aith Waryaghar, a Berber tribe from the Rif area. The book is an absolute joy to read – Ursula is down to earth, funny, and made a real effort to connect with the women from the tribe. She learned their language so well that her husband even complained that she should avoid “yakking” sessions and help him more! A photo in the front of the book shows her dressed in traditional married womens’ clothes, and my husband thought she was Berber, saying “She looks like my Mom!” Out of the dress, though, she was a very chic American blonde.
At the time of their stay in 1959-1965, many of the old traditions were still in place in the tribe, and Ursula describes them with sensitivity and humor, while still admitting her frustrations with some of the restrictions and mindsets. I enjoyed all of the little trivia she related, mostly gleaned from the women, such as what she discovered during a frank discussion on traditional birth control methods. Read the rest of this entry »