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Ghazaleh Alizadeh: » خانه ادریسیها (The House of The Edrisis (Volume 2)
This is the second of two volumes of this book. You can find the first part here. The title actually translates as House of the Hydrangeas. The novel is set in what we now know as Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan. It had been part of Persia but, at the time this novel is set – the 1910/20s – is part of the Russian Empire. The action takes place in and around the eponymous house belonging to the Edrisi family or, rather which used to belong to them but has been taken over by a revolutionary group, the Fire Stokers.
In the first book we saw that the revolution had arrived in Ashgabat. The decaying Edrisi family were down to three members: the Matriarch Mrs Edrisi, her unmarried daughter Leqa and her grandson Vahab. In addition there was an old family retainer, Yavar They seemed to do nothing much. Leqa plays the piano while Vahab reads a lot from his extensive library, often at night.
It all changes when the revolution happens and a host of revolutionaries move in. Most of them are fairly ordinary people who had a variety of jobs, with quite a few having worked in big houses. However they are led by the formidable Hero Showkat. (most of them are given the title Hero). Showkat is a very large, ferocious woman who has no qualms about picking a physical fight with anyone, male or female. She is very much in charge and makes it very clear to anyone who questions her authority.
Initially the takeover was traumatic for the family but they are now beginning to accept it and the incomers seem to be behaving better. Showkat still seems to be storming around, giving orders to all and sundry. She claims her authority comes from the House of Fire, the headquarters of the revolution in the city. However, as with all revolutions, there has been a counter-coup and quite a few have been removed. It looks as though Showkat’s authority might be wavering. However that does not stop her giving orders. She wants the house cleaned properly. She has Leqa working as a laundress, a task for which she has naturally no experience and then has her go up a ladder to clean the outside windows and walls. Surprisingly Leqa does not object as it gives some sort of purpose in life which she did not have before.
Vahab does not seem to do much work but he does get on with his uninvited guests. He had been in love with his late aunt Rahila, and had continued to adore her well after her death. He had also been attracted to an actress, Roxana, not least because she resembled Rahila. wShe has turned up in Ashgabat and now moves into the house. There is an ongoing flirtation between the two though more on Vahab’s par.t
All three Edrisis re-evaluate their relationships. Vahab had not particularly liked his mother, Rana. She is long since dead but he now starts to think better of her. Leqa always thought her mother looked down on her but a frank discussion improves the mother-daughter relationship.
The wider picture is changing. Do you know what the old women in Moscow do . nowadays? They sit behind the windows, spy on their neighbors, and report what they see to the secret centres of the councils. The same tender-hearted old women, loving grandmothers, have so far sent thousands of people to the firing squads and The capital city is like Armageddon. They have jailed the most honest members of the Supreme House of Fire. Due to all sorts of torture, before anyone else, they have come to believe in the baseless accusations. Things seem to be changing here as well.
We learn some of the back stories. Hero Qobad had been Mrs Edrisi’s lover but had gone off off to join the revolution in the mountains, where he had lost a leg. He and Roxana seem to be plotting further, as do others. However the House of Fire is fighting back, getting rid of counter-revolutionaries. It seems the House of Fire is planning to sell the house and throw everyone out. It is not only the family that are shocked. Many of the new residents have settled down there. When a group turn up, led by a former resident, however, they are no match for the formidable Showkat.
While all this has been going on, we have learned of more back stories of many of the incomers and, inevitably, they all have colourful stories – romances gone wrong, disputes with family members, ill health and death poverty and all the other issues that people face in life. Many of them had been driven out of their former homes and had ended up in Ashgabat.
Inevutably there squabbles between the various resident ens. One says My father’s advice to me was, ‘Avoid wounded snakes, shrewish women, and cracked walls!’ As luck would have it, we’ve got all three here.
But the House of Fire is getting nastier. It had a revolution to get rid of cruelty and injustice but now is itself cruel and unjust. They sweep in and arrest various key figures, including Mrs Edrisi, Roxana and Showkat but it is not clear what happens to them and it is suggested they may have fled to the mountains to continue the fight, with stories of the one-l egged Qobad seen leaping around. Vahab gets himself arrested but is freed and considers leaving the country while Leqa becomes a music teacher to the revolutionaries.
Alizadeh tells an excellent and colourful story of a revolution, clearly based on the Russian Revolution, which is meant to free the oppressed and itself becomes highly oppressive. However it is the various and very different characters who people this book that make it interesting.
Publishing history
First published in 1991 byTirazheh Publishers
First published in English in 2024 by Syracuse University Press
Translated by M. R. Ghanoonparvar