Belarus: Your Mouth is Lovely

Your Mouth is Lovely

by Nancy Richler

 



So this was an absolutely delightful surprise of a story and a great reminder of why I'm doing this little challenge ... to push myself to pick up books I might otherwise neglect.   Your Mouth is Lovely follows the life of Miriam, from the moment of her birth in a Belorussian schtetl, through her traditional upbringing, and into her adolescence during the Russian Revolution.  Miriam is our narrator, writing from her Siberian prison cell to the daughter who will never know her.  Except for occasional interludes from the present, we follow Miriam's journey chronologically, growing with her and gaining insight with her as she leaves behind the village's old ways and embraces the passions of her own generation.

Her early days are marked by the tragedy of her mother's death and the uneasy awareness that her birth had been insufficient to instill in her mother the will to live.  Her father, Aaron Lev, leaves her in the care of a foster mother, Lipsa, who envelopes Miriam into her warm, nurturing household and loves her dearly as her own brood of children.  Seven years later, Aaron Lev collects her when he remarries Tsila, a woman reputed to be of sour personality but who also loves Miriam as her own.  These early contrasts in Miriam's life set the stage for what lies ahead.  Things begin to change in the village ... younger women are rejecting the superstitious ways of the past, refusing to marry men chosen by matchmakers, disappearing and resurfacing years later in nearby cities with jobs and strange new ideas.  Still young and sheltered, Miriam accepts things at face value, believing what Tsila and her father tell her, not challenging or questioning what has always been.

Tsila's younger sister, Bayla is one of the women who disappears.  With one foot in the old world, Bayla is betrothed; with one foot in the new, her engagement goes on for years with no sign of nuptials ahead, and she disappears with her fiancé, Lieb.  When Tsila becomes ill, Miriam, now 16, sets off for the city to bring Bayla home.  She finds herself in an exhilarating new world where she lives and works among the young revolutionaries who are standing up for socialist reform in opposition of the Tsar and the government.  At first, Miriam involves herself not for her own ideology, but for the sake of her newfound freedom, independence, and friendship.  Slowly, without even realizing that it's happening, she comes to understand that those things she values, that make her life vibrant and enrich her days, are the very things for which the revolutionaries stand.  Her arrest is as inevitable as her emerging awareness of the world around her.

The female characters in Your Mouth is Lovely were spectacular.  I loved them all for their richness, their honesty, and their heroism during a time in history that was pivotal for all women.  Each one struggled in her own way to navigate the changes necessary to protect themselves and their loved ones and to accept that old ways of thinking would have to be left behind.  I found myself thinking a lot about "Fiddler on the Roof," a musical I performed in during high school but whose meaning, other than my excitement at playing a role I coveted, was mostly lost on my teenage self.  "Fiddler" tells the story of a father, Tevya's efforts to understand the changes going on in Russia and its surrounding areas during a time of contentious politics, religious persecution, cultural reform, and social change.  Tevya has five daughter, each of whom confronts his traditional ways of thinking by asserting herself and forcing him to change and grow.  Your Mouth is Lovely serves as a wonderful companion, telling the tale of the women's perspective ... the mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, and most importantly, through Miriam's voice, the budding female adolescent who is trying to understand and define herself when nothing around her makes much sense.

Highly recommend this one.  Bravo, Nancy Richler ... I'll be looking for more by this author.