Incredible. I am an avid historical fiction reader, particularly when the plot is based on real events and people. Having recently been to and fallen in love with Armenia and the surrounding Caucasus countries, I devoured this story. Here is my book review Gendarme by Mark Mustian.
Gendarme
A couple months ago I posted a review of Mark Mustian’s latest novel Boy With Wings. Read my book review Boy with Wings by Mark Mustian here. In my review I say it was one of my favorite books of the year. I was so impressed I went in search of other novels by Mustian, and ended up with Gendarme.
If you aren’t familiar with the word Gendarme, it is a French word that describes a police force, which is also part of the armed forces. In this novel we experience a harrowing story of Gendarmes during the Turkish genocide of Armenians between 1915-1917. As a point of reference, Mustian has Armenian roots.
In this story we meet an old man, Emmett Conn. He is at the end of his life, diagnosed with a brain tumor and having ‘hallucinations”. But Emmett insists these are dreams, in a chronological sequence, telling story he cannot remember. But the dreams and the story are so real to him.
Armenia
Due to a head injury in World War I, Emmett Conn (Ahmet Kahn) cannot remember his time in the Turkish army. His memory begins in a British hospital where he meets his future wife Carol. But as Emmett deals with failing health and a brain tumor in his 90’s, and his dreams bring him back to the time he was a Gendarme marching Armenians out of Turkey. Are these just dreams or did this really happen? In his dreams Emmett does horrific acts, commits unthinkable war crimes. But one girl, an Armenian beauty with one blue eye and one green eye is as real as can be in Emmett’s dreams.
Break Out
Emmett’s daughter and his doctor recommend Emmett to a phychiatric institution “just for a while” when his dreams or visions turn dangerous. Emmett knows his life is short, and his final wish is to find the girl, Araxie, with one blue eye and one green eye. He must know if she survived the Armenian genocide.
In an almost comical but also depressing way Emmett breaks out of the institution on a bike, manages to get to New York city and find his way to an address where he thinks she lives. The resulting encounter is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, but it gives Emmett the answers he longs for.
Book Review Gendarme by Mark Mustian
I really loved this book and find it hard to put down. It’s not only a love story, it’s about aging in a fast paced world. But mostly it is about an event in history that is not taught in schools, is still not recognized by the Turkish government, but is real to every Armenian. If you aren’t familiar with the Armenian genocide, read this book.
*****Five stars for Gendarme by Mark Mustian. See last week’s book review Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten.
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