Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First let’s talk about the plot. Tangerine begins in Tangiers, Morocco in 1956. There is a prologue and epilogue, both in other locales, and the outcome is not revealed until the epilogue. Two former Bennington roommates re-unite in Tangiers when uninvited Lucy shows up at Alice’s door. Husband John arrives soon after and is not pleased to see that they have a guest – their quarters are somewhat cramped and John quickly deduces that this stranger will be cramping his life style as well. John is a leach of Alice’s Aunt Maude generosity and while he works – doing what is never made clear – he apparently is unpaid. Alice is nice, but a doormat; Lucy is not nice and speaks her mind. The sun hasn’t set before sparks begin to fly, and fly, and fly. Clearly, this would have made a great black and white Bette Davis uberdrama. Lucy and Alice narrate alternating chapters. Sometimes, Alice will give her view of something Lucy has described in the preceding chapter; other times the story will just move on. Always in the background is Tangier or Tangiers or the other 4 or 5 names history has used for this amazing city with narrow passages through the Casbah, broiling sun, hot mint tea – and the occasional tangerine. So, what’s a tangerine? Someone whose home is Tangiers, a woman, not Moroccan, a user of people – it is not complimentary. There are flashbacks to Bennington days, a hint of past trouble, the incident. A growing relationship between the two woman, despite two polar opposites in background, in personalities, in almost everything. Jump back to Tangier and we begin to meet some locals. Lucy is advised to stay away from Youssef, a warning akin to telling a teenager to drive at the speed limit and never experiment with drugs. The tension continues to mount. We learn what it was that happened that night at Bennington and why one of the young women ran away. Identities become blurred. And then there is a murder. Why 1956? The story wouldn’t quite work at much later dates. Shortly after, Morocco becomes independent, crime solving becomes more sophisticated, travel advances shrink the globe. And what about that blurb on the cover suggesting what a great Hitchcock movie this would have made? I don’t agree. I loved Hitchcock. But Hitchcock used female roles as window dressing; his films were always about the hero guy. Hitchcock did not make movies about women. There is no hero guy in “Tangerine”; actually there is no heroine either. And that is why I think there is such a disparity between most reader reviews and critic reviews. After reading critics’ reviews, one might expect 5 stars from readers. But most readers, including myself, want a hero, someone they like, someone to pull for, someone to save the day or just survive. This is not that book. Nevertheless “Tangerine” is excellent – for its great story telling, for transporting the reader to an engrossing time and place, for creating two excellent characters, for great tension and plot. So I highly recommend this book though I realize it is not for all tastes.