This is the second book I have read on commission, as it were, and another one I would not have otherwise thought to read. So this writing job is proving to be very good for me as it takes me out of my comfort zone, I suppose, whatever that is.
I had just about heard of Andre Dubus III's previous novel, House of Sand and Fog, mainly because it was made into a film (which I have not actually seen). But of the author himself I knew nothing, and I doubt if, of my own accord, I'd have picked up a book about an Islamic terrorist visiting a strip club in Florida just before 9/11. But it turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting.
The Garden of Last Days is a tense psychological thriller. The novel begins on an early September evening in 2001. April, a stripper, is on her way to work at the Puma Club for men. April’s landlady Jean, who usually baby-sits three-year-old Franny, is in hospital, so April has decided to bring her daughter to the club, and to leave her watching children's videos in the office while her mother works. But April quickly gets caught up with an unusual, foreign, client, whose name is Bassam. He has a great deal of money, all in cash, and he is extremely free with it, demanding private time with April. But while she is in the Champagne Room with Bassam, Franny gets scared and wanders out of the office looking for her mother. Meanwhile, another client, AJ, drunk and angry, is in the car park, having been thrown out of the club for holding hands with his favorite stripper. He’s been denied access to his own beloved small son, and when he spots Franny alone and crying he decides to take action, with disastrous results.
The novel is based partly on known facts. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, several of the hijackers spent time in Jacksonville, Florida, where they stayed at the Ramada Inn. While they were there they are known to have visited strip clubs and to have purchased pornographic videos and used the services of prostitutes. Doing so was breaking strict Islamic law, and a sin for these Muslim fundamentalists who were about to die for their faith. So major theme of the novel is extremist Islamic fundamentalism and its results. Bassam is shown to be a naïve young man, who, despite the warnings of his father, a good-hearted moderate Muslim, has been recruited by an extreme terrorist organization. The incentive that has persuaded him to die for his faith is the promise of heavenly rewards after death in the shape of willing and beautiful young virgins. But during the waiting period before the attacks, Bassam and his fellow hijackers are drawn into supposedly sinful encounters with alcohol and sex. Another strength of the novel is the way it shows the underlying humanity of characters who may initially appear morally culpable. AJ, drunk and confused, abducts a child in the belief that he is rescuing her from a worse fate. April could easily be judged as a bad parent for taking her child to the club, but she is a loving mother who only wants the best for Franny. And Bassam, despite the terrible commitment he has made to his faith, is shown to be a confused young man, torn between his religious beliefs and his more human urges.
I'm not sure I will be seeking out more novels by Andre Dubus III (so-called because his father and grandfather were also novelists) but he is certainly a talented writer and a thought-provoking one. I'm glad I read this, anyway, and I certainly learned a lot.
