'Sosi' by Linda Ghan, reading and discussion in Otawa

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Originally from Weyburn, Saskatchewan (Canada), Linda Ghan is an accomplished author of fiction, drama and journalism. Her first novel, A Gift of Sky, had two editions in Canada as well as being published in translation in Japan. Ghan moved to Japan in 1996. and published many articles for Japanese dailies and the non-fiction book Gaston Petit: The Kimono and the Cross, before returning to fiction?and Montreal.

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“Sosi” is the latest novel by Linda Ghan, published in 2005?

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Zeyneb Sosi Arta is only seven years old when she is stoned by a group of village children, who taunt her with cries of ?infidel.? This incident spurs her parents to move her to the safety of the city to stay with the Reijskinds, sympathetic friends. After all, though Sosi?s father is Turkish, her mother is Armenian, and although many years have passed, they haven?t forgotten the systematic extermination of Armenians at the hands of the Turks that began in 1915.

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The realities of war, genocide and global immigration and their impact on susequent generations are revealed through the story of Sosi: a survivor, a traveller, a mother, an Armenian.

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Historical fiction, when it's good, breathes life into the past, blending imagination with fact to educate and engage.

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Sosi examines the Armenian genocide and its aftermath through the story of protagonist Zeyneb Sosi Arta. The story begins in Turkey with Sosi, half Armenian and half Turkish, being labelled an infidel (i.e. part Armenian) by the locals. Afraid for their child's life, her parents send her away in the city to live with Jewish family friends, Aunt Gracia and Uncle Samuel. Sosi's parents are subsequently murdered and she is left to face their deaths, and wrestle with her double identity.

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Eventually the family moves to Jerusalem, city of many religions, and Sosi falls in love with Ara, a radical young Armenian photographer. After Sosi has their child, Ara decides he must go to Turkey to document the disappearance of the Armenians and help force the Turks to admit to the genocide. But he disappears, and suspecting he has been killed, Sosi moves with her aunt and child to begin a new life in Montreal.

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Through its intertwining of cultures, Sosi illustrates the complicated notions of good and evil, and of difference. Sean, a family friend, says to Ara, “We're all the same. You got your good guys and your bad, and sometimes the good guys aren't so good and the bad guys aren't so bad. You can't just sit back and decide you know who's who and what's what.”

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Sosi succeeds as a creative rendering of history: those interested in learning about the Armenian genocide and its impact will appreciate this novel. For those in search of a literary fix, the novel will at times disappoint. Metaphors like “Ara had stolen the moon” and “?I was the moon, beautiful, delicate, round with a round moon belly?” are not rare in this book and border on the clich?. The story's references to actual figures and events occasionally feel stilted and, once in a while, the historical details feel unnaturally inserted into the text.

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