THE RED MOON

First-time novelist Haulsey explores the complex subject of female circumcision in this harrowing, bleakly beautiful tale of the ultra-traditional Samburu tribe of Kenya. Nineteen-year-old Nasarian is an outsider many times over: not just the "half-breed" daughter of a Somali mother and a Samburu father, but also a book-smart student who has (so far) successfully resisted her elders' efforts to circumcise her for marriage. When both her parents die, she is left defenseless, in the "care" of her cousin Lalasi, and given the job of tending to his young daughter, Nasieku, who is neglected by a battered, drunken mother. Despite the apparently lenient terms of the arrangement, Nasarian flees to the forest, where, in the company of two elderly elephant mothers, she meditates at length on the brutal, death-scarred lives of her parents, who eventually found solace in the traditions of Samburu ancestors. But for Nasarian, embracing tradition is impossible—especially after she has to watch helplessly as Lalasi orders nine-year-old Nasieku to be circumcised in a procedure that soon kills her. Writing in a stark but delicate style that seems to mimic the terrain, Haulsey unsparingly depicts the miseries of East African tribal life: routine domestic violence, alcoholism and disease, as well as the complications of polygamy and ritual circumcision. But there are no snap judgments here, as Nasarian's tortured ambivalence gives the novel subtlety and depth. If the ending seems pat—Nasarian enrolls in Columbia University's creative writing program, selling her poems and stories "for a rather reasonable price"—the powerful thrust of the rest of this unflinching tale marks Haulsey as a promising young writer. (Aug.)