The main craft element that really struck me was the constant smushing together of opposites in the same paragraph: rich and poor, the red Ford Focus (kind of lavish for a nun’s vehicle) in front of the nunnery, the idea of the old person and new person, talking about the Holocaust over pastries, trying to sound playful and not disgusted when telling Andrew to hush his mouth. All of these things and a few others carry on a theme of division throughout the piece, which I find brilliant since a Fatou struggles to decide whether or not she is a slave and also because she seems to be experiencing what is often termed as. “double-consciousness.” She is living and working in London, but as Andrew states and from what we can tell, she is not like other girls who live in London. Because of this lack of identity and confusion as to her place in the world, Fatou reminds me a little of Nazneen and Hasina. Like Hasina, she is struggling to make ends meet and keeps getting knocked down. Like Nazneen, she has trouble with being spiritual, so life is a little more bleak than it would be and this loss of spirituality from living in London instead of Cambodia makes her identity fade a little. All in all, Smith was very clever in how she gave meaning to things in the story, and this was overall a great read.

Last post and last night in London. I’m going to miss this place, but I will definitely take pieces of it with me. :’)