Inspiring, Compassionate, Painful. A Pure Delight!

No matter how much you think you know about the horrifying procedure of female circumcision, you don't know enough! Alice Walker has created a phenomenal character who has experienced this terrifying and confusing procedure, one based on what could possibly be a real person. Someone you even know -- your neighbor, your child's friend's mother, anyone! This character brings the real issues of female circumcision to life...not just the issues you hear from those vehemently opposed to it.

The book is written from several points of view -- the main character, her husband, her children, her family members, friends, and the woman who performed the operation. Each provides a perspective individual to the character speaking. The perspectives come together to form the story of one woman dealing with the agonizing aspects of her life after circumcision -- the experiences of consummation, menstruation, childbirth and the personal emotional issues such as loss of identity, worthlessness and (believe it or not) joy, power, and control over her own self worth.

Walker demonstrates an acute awareness, a compassionate realization and powerful desire to bring into light the issues of a cultural rite of passage that stuns most of us. She makes us visualize and even appreciate the needs and desires of her main character. She makes us sympathize with her decisions (whether we agree with them or not) and brings our emotions, doubts and ignorance into a spiraling circle of hope, peace and understanding.

The scenes are graphic, I will warn those weak-stomached readers -- but do yourself a favor and read them regardless of what you believe. Frankly, I am weak-willed myself and hardly made it through this book. Once I did, however, I read it again to make sure I didn't miss anything. You have to expose yourself to different cultures and different customs -- whether you think they are right or not.

Walker brings together two different cultures in this book -- African and American. She brings the reader into a world different from any other we have ever known. She makes us understand that world, and then helps us to understand our own culture. She raises questions that we probably don't consider of our own customs -- for instance, Why do we perform male circumcisions? The answers she provides do not compare the customs of each culture -- she does not say that one is better than the other.

She simply provides us with insight, compassion and wonder. She helps us know more about a procedure and feeds us the bittersweet chocolate of its cake batter. Her characters make us cry and sing with pain and delight. The chocolate might taste icky before adding it to the batter, but it always turns out delicious in the end. Walker provides this book with all of the ingredients of the best darn chocolate cake you ever did eat!