by Judi November 17, 2023
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, Jennifer Steil’s memoir is an enlightening view into a rarely visited or understood region of the world. As a globalist, Sana’a, Yemen was on my bucket list. Making that journey has become an abstract vision. Ms. Steil lifted the veil of that reverie for me. Her descriptive writing reveals the beauty of Sana’a’s pre-BCE gingerbread architecture, its people, and its flavors.
The book is more than travelogue journal. It is a compelling story of a stranger, a young woman, who dared to enter such a strange land. It’s a quiet story of the struggle, the yearning, and the resignation of women and men grappling with the realities of a harsh environment and an even harsher governing regime. Steil relates her tale with gentility, taking the reader through the filigreed windows to see deeply within this ancient culture: the hidden relationships, the suppressed thoughts, and the limited free expression. She gives the reader a textured glimpse into a society that can offer its richness to the world.
As Ms. Steil leads the reader down the road less traveled, her personal history takes a different course. The Woman Who Fell from the Sky is a Cinderella story: a story of falling in love, falling in love with a place and a person. Her writing is as intoxicating as frangipani, which has led me to read her two fiction novels: The Ambassador’s Wife and Exile Music.
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky is a good read.
