The Confusion of Languages
by Siobhan Fallon
Print Length: 336 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Both Cassie Hugo and Margaret Brickshaw dutifully
followed their soldier husbands to the U.S. embassy in Jordan, but that’s about
all the women have in common. After two years, Cassie’s become an expert on the
rules, but newly arrived Margaret sees only her chance to explore. So when a
fender-bender sends Margaret to the local police station, Cassie reluctantly
agrees to watch Margaret’s toddler son. But as the hours pass, Cassie’s boredom
and frustration turn to fear: Why isn’t Margaret answering her phone, and why
is it taking so long to sort out a routine accident? Snooping around Margaret’s
apartment, Cassie begins to question not only her friend’s whereabouts but also
her own role in Margaret’s disappearance.
With achingly honest prose and riveting characters, The
Confusion of Languages plunges readers into a shattering collision between two
women and two worlds, affirming Siobhan Fallon as a powerful voice in American
fiction and a storyteller not to be missed.
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Margaret
and Cassie are military wives, living in Jordan with their husbands who work in
the American Embassy. Cassie has been
there the longest, so she takes Margaret under her wing, trying to teach her the
customs of the country as well as the do’s and don’ts. Cassie is a ‘by the book’
woman and Margaret likes to go against the grain.
Margaret
craves friendship and her kindness to others has her finding herself in some awkward
situations. At the beginning, it seemed
she just didn’t care about the customs of the country, but as the story
continued, I believe that she truly did care, she just wanted to fit in so desperately
and wanted to be liked by everyone, but her somewhat sheltered life and lack of
common sense proved to be her downfall.
She was very insecure with her marriage which also didn’t help matters
much.
Cassie
was the mother hen figure and really wanted to help Margaret out, but I don’t
believe she knew how to go about it.
Margaret seemed not to take her advice, so I think she just started to
give up on her and not care. Her
marriage is not going so well either because she feels her life is incomplete
because she can’t have children.
After a
fender bender, Margaret leaves her adorable son with Cassie while she goes to
the police station to take care of business.
When Margaret does not come home after a while, Cassie starts to read Margaret’s
journal, and she begins to understand her a little more. What the reader begins
to realize is that not only is there a lack of communication in their foreign
home, there is also a lack of communication amongst themselves which in the end
will end dreadfully.
It took
me a little bit to really get into the story, but when I finally connected with
it, I found it impossible to put down. Told in dual point of views and part of
the story in a diary format, this tragic story is beautifully written with
vivid descriptions and spectacular imagery, providing the reader with a captivating reading experience that is truly
unique. Fallon has crafted a meticulously
researched and haunting novel that is both riveting and fascinating that will surely
keep readers enthralled throughout.
4 stars
Siobhan Fallon is the author of the 2012 PEN Center USA
Literary Award in Fiction winner You Know When the Men Are Gone. She is also
the recipient of the 2012 Indies Choice Honor Award and the Texas Institute of
Letters Award for First Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The Washington
Post Magazine, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Military Spouse, The Huffington
Post, and NPR’s Morning Edition, among others. She was raised in Highland
Falls, New York, just outside the gates of the United States Military Academy
at West Point. She graduated from Providence College and spent a year at
Cambridge University in England. After teaching English in Japan, she earned an
MFA at the New School in New York City. She and her family moved to Jordan in
2011, and they currently live in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 
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