Divided in halves

a short novel

© 1995 by Orin Hargraves

all rights reserved

In this atmospheric novella set in a village in Morocco’s Middle Atlas mountains, four people (three men and one women, of whom two are natives, two are foreigners) develop a delightful ménage that enables them to transcend their dull surroundings, until it eventually collapses under the weight of its own secrets.

Here are the first five chapters. Send me an email if you would like to read the rest of it, or talk about it, or publish it, or buy the screen rights, or . . ., well, whatever!

Chapter 1 in which we meet the American narrator Ralph and Estelle, the Frenchwoman.

Chapter 2 in which we meet Aziz, local French teacher.

Chapter 3 in which Ralph and Estelle consolidate their friendship.

Chapter 4 in which Ralph, Estelle and Aziz attain local celebrity as fountains of gaiety and wit.

Chapter 5 in which Mohamed Benhadara enters on the scene and the ménage takes off into uncharted territory.

I hope you enjoy the story! Of all the things I’ve written, this is the thing I like most; it captures a period in my life that was the most formative.

—Orin Hargraves