Setting
The Storyteller of Casablanca is set in the Moroccan port city of Casablanca. It is one of the largest financial centres in Africa. In the early 1900s, it came under French rule. During World War II, Casablanca was the melting point with refugees from all over Europe. It served as a stopover for refugees on their way to Britain and America, trying to escape the war.
Storyline
It is a dual timeline book. One timeline focuses on Zoe in 2010. She with her husband moved to Casablanca on a posting, seeking a fresh start. With her marriage on rocks, Zoe was trying to break through her continuous cycle of grief. When she chances on an old journal in the attic of her home, she gets pulled into the life of Josie, a thirteen-year-old girl. Josie lived in the same house as Zoe during the second world war. She with her family had moved to Casablanca on their way to the United States. They undergo constant daily struggle to find passage to America. With the war and the threat of Nazis looming, Josie tries to adapt to life in Casablanca. So does Zoe, along with trying to come to terms with her loss.
My Thoughts
Fiona Valpy has remarkably managed to do justice to both the timelines. Zoe and Josie are two characters belonging to completely different periods and stages of life. Yet the common thread that neatly ties them together is the alluring city of Casablanca. The author has brought Casablanca of the 1940s to life with her exquisite writing making it easy for me to envision the place. I could feel the spirit, the sights and the sounds of Casablanca. The unsaid grief of Zoe and her struggle with it was palpable. Even though the author has recounted Josie's story in epistolary style but at no point, it appears bland. Instead, Josie's story comes alive in front of you by the way she articulates her thoughts.It is definitely worth a try.
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