Dans sa chair by Yasmine Chami

Abstract

Reviewed by: Dans sa chair by Yasmine Chami Jane E. Evans Chami, Yasmine. Dans sa chair. Actes Sud, 2022. ISBN 978-2-330-16124-8. Pp. 192. Books about female protagonists grieving the end of a relationship or marriage abound, with the main character detailing her progress from heartbreak to a healthier condition. However, in Yasmine Chami’s evocative fourth novel, male protagonist Ismaïl attempts to make sense of his role in his significant life changes from the past two years, “deux années chaotiques” (14), including the end of an extramarital affair with Meriem, a younger colleague; the demise of his thirty-year marriage to Médée, whom he still loves; his estrangement from his grown children and his siblings; and his leave from his career as a renowned brain surgeon and medical school professor. Ismaïl focuses on three areas of his life, namely, his childhood and the loss of his father; his early years as a married man and a driven medical specialist; and his present existence as a maladjusted, solitary sixty-year-old. For each period, the protagonist recalls a “truth” from that time and re-evaluates it. He sees his childhood as the moment in which his father was inexplicably imprisoned and then died, leaving him, at age ten, as “responsable de tous” (52). His desire to make his mother and family proud of him accompanies this huge loss. Ismaïl next considers his life as a young surgeon, supported by his wife, Médée, and their three children. He realizes that he had misunderstood his ex-wife’s sculpted figurines, which he had dismissed as a mere hobby. Instead, she turned exhibiting and selling her creations into a lucrative business that sustains her after their divorce. Moreover, he concedes that her “étonnante résilience” (127) was exemplary: she graciously shouldered the planning of all birthdays and holidays with family, occasions that he regularly missed, without complaint. In praising Médée’s versatility, Ismaïl confesses that he lacks this quality: “la réalité que son épouse lui avait longtemps épargnée, œuvrant afin de le maintenir au centre d’une vie familiale chaleureuse et unie qu’elle avait pour la plus grande partie assumée seule” (110). Ismail’s realization of his ex-wife’s steadfastness helps him understand why his adult son and daughter sided with their mother upon learning of their father’s adultery. As the protagonist gains a new understanding of his former wife as well as of his grown children, he also revisits his early promises to his mother, not only to become a brilliant doctor, but also to provide the best medical care for Jawad, his autistic younger brother. Ismaïl again recognizes his shortcomings because Jawad never received any treatment for his autism. The protagonist provided minimal support through monthly checks that he sent to his sisters for their brother’s wellbeing. Thus, through the protagonist’s reassessment of his behavior from childhood on, Dans sa chair reveals his inexperience in functioning autonomously in the world. At each turn, as Ismaïl accepts another painful truth about himself, his quest for the meaning in his life ultimately eludes him. [End Page 210] Jane E. Evans University of Texas, El Paso Copyright © 2022 American Association of Teachers of French