The Fattening Hut

by Pat Lowery Collins

Overview

Helen doesn’t want to stay in the fattening hut. She’s told her mother that she’s too young, not ready for it. Why must she marry so soon—and gorge on rich meals for months, until she’s heavy and round, like a good bride? Like her mother and sister before her, like all the women of her tribe.

When she learns the terrible secret the fattening hut harbors, Helen becomes even more defiant and confused. Lonely, scared, and feeling confined by her family, culture, and tradition, she fights for a chance to be educated, young, and free.

The Fattening Hut is a lyrical and timeless tale about a teenage girl who struggles to reclaim her independence, her body, and her soul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618552092
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/02/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.48(d)
Lexile:	930L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Pat Lowery Collins lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she writes, paints and illustrates full-time. She was born and raised in Hollywood and received her B.A. in English from the University of Southern California. She is an award winning poet and author, having written a number of young adult novels including The Fattening Hut (Houghton, 2003), Just Imagine (Houghton, 2001), and Signs and Wonders (Houghton, 1999), as well as the picture book Tomorrow, Up and Away (Houghton, 1990). To learn more about Pat Lowery Collins, visit her website at www.patlowerycollins.com.

Editorial Reviews

A powerful and unique book.” —School Library Journal School Library Journal

“Hauntingly explores the ramifications of a disturbing rite of passage in an island tribal culture.” —Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly —

From the Publisher

Collins (Signs and Wonders) hauntingly explores the ramifications of a disturbing rite of passage in an island tribal culture. The novel, told in free verse, opens as 14-year-old narrator Helen sits in the "fattening hut," where girls go in near solitude to grow rotund before they marry, and where a secret ritual (female genital mutilation) is performed. But Helen's Aunt Margaret, who taught Helen to read, smuggles in books that the woman received from long-ago British visitors to their island. Into one of the books, Aunt Margaret tucks a piece she wrote, "An Island Story," a brief history of their island's practices, which mentions "the fattening and ceremonial cutting of young women." This is as explicit as Collins gets about the procedure (until an afterword), but it is enough to plant a seed in Helen's mind; the author establishes Helen's intelligence and intuition early on, in lyrical language ("The women are all telling me/ with words and without sound/ that I have no power even over/ what I think of as myself"). The heroine also proves her resourcefulness when, after escaping from the hut, she travels far from her family's settlement. Details about the lush land spring to life, as Helen seeks refuge in a tamarind tree and encounters anteaters, cayawolves and other exotic (to readers) wildlife. Collins presents Helen with choices, each of which means a painful sacrifice. An effective portrayal of a girl on the brink of adulthood, set within the framework of a suspenseful adventure story. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 9 Up-As in Signs and Wonders (1999) and Just Imagine (2001, both Houghton), Collins once again deals with teens who are out of sync with their culture or surroundings. In this book, she deals with the weighty issue of female circumcision. At 14, Helen has been promised to Esenu, an "old man" in her opinion, 30 years of age. She needs to gain weight, for what man wants a skinny bride? All of the girls on this fictional island are expected to go into confinement and eat as much as they can. However, the isolation and loss of youthful freedom have taken away Helen's appetite. In addition, she is becoming aware that the fattening hut holds another terrible secret. Helen is known to be willful; she takes after her unmarried Aunt Margaret, who has long been an outcast of the tribe. She has taught her niece to read and has given her ideas about the world beyond their island. Despite dire consequences if caught, she helps Helen to escape. Written as a long, first-person prose poem, the story is well told and compelling. Throughout this short novel, Collins subtly reveals who these people are, their customs, and what awaits Helen if she stays. This is a tough book that expects a lot from its readers. The terrible secret hidden in the hut may be lost on younger teens or less-sophisticated readers. Nevertheless, this is a powerful and unique book.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Collins’s novel in free verse doesn’t quite hang together. Helen is coming of age in a fictional island culture (borrowed from Nigerian custom and the British West Indies) where girls are taken to the "fattening hut" before they’re married. There they’re fed rich delicacies for days, until they develop the womanly folds that make them attractive. Helen is nervous about marriage, and her body rebels, growing steadily thinner (a psychosomatic reaction? Collins doesn’t explain). When she discovers that the ritual also involves genital mutilation, Helen runs away. Collins beautifully evokes the setting and Helen’s inner voice with her keen sense of rhythm. Sadly, characters all speak in the same voice, confusing the dialogue, and the form often bogs down the narrative. The overall effect of Collins’s complex work is ungainly, and it will be the unusual reader who’s drawn to the title and the cover of this only partly successful effort. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews