Last Days in Babylon by Marina Benjamin

Author:Marina Benjamin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2006-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Throughout the joyless year in which Regina mourned for Elazar, swathing herself in black robes and shunning all social engagements, she had plenty of time to adjust to her new circumstances. The enforced passivity of mourning did not suit her, and behind her sad eyes her pragmatic brain was busy contriving ways in which she might begin to support her three children. Elazar had hardly left her destitute, but there were standards to maintain, and she didn’t want her children going without. As a woman alone in the world and, more important, a woman of good breeding, Regina had few options. A distant cousin who had been similarly mired in widowhood with three young mouths to feed had discreetly taken up dressmaking. Women would visit her home to be measured and fitted, bringing pattern books and materials with them, and then the cousin would sew their dresses in her own time, pocketing the small fee owed to her on collection with an embarrassed shrug. But working as a seamstress was out of the question for the wife of Elazar Levy and, in any case, Regina recoiled at the very idea of earning a fee.

She was not averse to dabbling in the commodities markets, however, and to this end she sought the counsel of Elazar’s cousin Goorji Levy, assistant director of the Ottoman Bank and a man renowned across Baghdad for his financial acumen. She also called on the expertise of Elazar’s nephew Albert Levy, who held the same position at the Rafidain Bank. Between them they helped Regina navigate the commodities markets, advising her on what to buy and when to sell, helping her with the paperwork, and introducing her to reputable brokers who would never dream of taking advantage of a woman. Before long Regina felt quite at home in this abstract world of men, buying and selling sugar, steel, dates, and rubber as though she were a grand merchant moving vast fortunes from one continent to another and not a clever widow learning how to maximize her limited funds.

To her surprise, she also won the respect of the women of the household. “Your mother is a very clever woman,” she overheard Salha telling her daughters.

Bertha and Marcelle remember getting a good deal of lecturing from Salha at this time. “Don’t bother your mother with your problems,” she’d say. “She has enough on her plate already.” Or: “You must help Regina whenever you can. Help her with the cooking, help her tidy up, and help her look after your brother. Even if she appears not to need your help, you must offer it.”

When Regina emerged from her year of mourning, Bertha was fourteen and Marcelle eleven. Already her girls were miniature models of the women they’d later become. Bertha was outspoken and independent, with a streak of wilfullness that showed itself rather too often for Regina’s comfort. Marcelle on the other hand was bookish and shy, the kind of child who preferred a good novel to the distractions of company.

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