The defining scene in Leila Slimani's "Watch Us Dance" comes near the end.
It's the wedding of wealthy Aïcha Belhaj, whose Moroccan family profited during France's 1956 withdrawal from their country. As she and her friends party, impoverished employees and neighbors watch from a nearby glade, enjoying the music from a party to which they were not invited and hoping for plates of leftovers. Slimani packs a lot into that scene about a changing Morocco whose citizens are becoming fed up with subsisting on handouts.
It never seemed right to classify Slimani's international blockbuster "The Perfect Nanny" as a thriller. Yes, a nanny kills her charges but, despite that crime, "Nanny" is more about interrogating privilege and bigotry than finding thrills. That's also true of Slimani's "In the Country of Others," a fictionalized look at Slimani's grandparents in the 1950s, when her native Morocco broke free.
Wealthy Amine and Mathilde are still around in "Watch Us Dance," building a swimming pool and worrying about flaunting their wealth while so many around them have nothing. But the focus shifts to the next generation, including industrious daughter Aïcha and spoiled son Selim.
"Watch" reads like loosely linked stories in its first half, which follow various family members as they figure out where their lives are going. Selim takes up with hippies and embarks on a shocking affair, while Aiche will-they-or-won't-theys with a fellow student.
Throughout the novel, there are signs of change on the horizon. Selim's travels are interrupted by a possible coup, during which it's briefly believed that the king has been killed. The nation watches the first moon landing. The language and culture of France are shoved aside by young Moroccans who yearn for a fresh start.
These themes emerge gracefully in Slimani's languid, atmospheric prose, translated from French by Sam Taylor. But the language is in tension with the events, which accelerate rapidly toward the end of "Watch," a sign that Moroccans aren't always going to be satisfied with occasionally being handed plates of chicken and potatoes. Soon, they will want a seat at the table.
'Watch Us Dance'
By: Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor.
Publisher: Viking, 322 pages, $28.
