Comoros

A girl called eel

by ali zamir

translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins

Set on the Comoran island of Anjouan, A GIRL CALLED EEL is the story of 17-year-old Eel, her sister, Rattler, and her father, All-Knowing. The entire novel is written in one continuous, uninterrupted sentence as Eel relates the events that have bought her down the fateful path to what might be the final moment of her young life.

I struggled a bit with this book and found it hard to connect with the characters and really immerse myself in the story and the place. The entire story is recounted by the narrator, Eel, an unusually named Comoran girl who lives with her father and sister in Anjouan. The author, Ali Zamir elected to tell this story in a single, continuous sentence, possibly to accentuate the circumstances Eel finds herself caught up in. Adrift at sea in the aftermath of a shipwreck, Eel is confronting her imminent death and the single-sentence structure contributes to a sense of breathlessness and urgency. She is compelled to recount the story of her life, aware that she may be approaching her final moments.

The single sentence is an ambitious undertaking, but instead of raising the tension for me, it had the opposite effect of occupying my awareness and thus distracting me from the storyline. I also found the first-person narrative perspective kept me removed from the story. Rather than being fully invited into Eel’s experience, I was simply a witness, watching the events unfold.

I understand that Zamir may have had grander designs with this story. That he intended his characters and the events and the circumstances of the final moments of Eel’s short life to stand as metaphors for something more meaningful—a deeper look at life—but this was all lost a bit on me. I might revisit this book again to see what I missed, but overall I did not love this read.

Ali Zamir was born on Anjouan in the Comoros. He studied French Literature at the University of Cairo and attained his Master s degree from there in 2010. He has since returned to Anjouan where he has been the Director of Culture and Cooperative Activities for the island since 2014. First published in French as Anguille sous roche by Le Tripode in 2016, A Girl Called Eel is his first novel.