real lives
Worlds apart yet united by love, Jane and Abdel now split their time between Morocco and Cornwall where they have each adapted to the widely differing cultures
prized for their fierceness. To him, my failings as far as men in my own culture were concerned were assets. We both were equally exotic to one another – he with his dark skin and gleaming black eyes, me with my fair colouring and sea-blue eyes. We delighted one another. By the end of the week, Abdel turned to me as we sat drinking coffee in the very un-Parisian Cafe de Paris, looking out over the passing mule carts, and matter-of- factly said, “When shall we get married then?” No, it was not the most romantic proposal, but it reflected the inevitability we both were feeling. Within six months, I’d quit my job, sold my flat and shipped the contents to Morocco. In autumn 2005, eight months after we met, Abdel and I were married in Tafraout in a civil ceremony followed by a traditional three-day celebration. I wore a silver Berber crown and a
turquoise silk kaftan. Friends and family flew in from London and quickly fell under Tafraout’s spell, intoxicated by the sugary mint tea, the driving beats of the musicians’ drums and the warm hospitality. Six years on, the spell still holds. Abdel has learnt English and
converted to Islam and he still wears a turban. It’s not always easy – Berber is a fiendish language to learn and I have come away from a shop with eggs rather than the butter I went in to buy! And I can’t gossip with my neighbours out here, though we do manage to have ‘conversations’, so it can be a little lonely from time to time. Our life suits us well. We close
who we were and what
acquired UK residency and we now split our time between Morocco and Cornwall, sharing each other’s worlds. Luckily we met at an age at which we already knew who we were and what we wanted in life. And so I have never made attempts to change Abdel and he has never sought to change me – I have not
age at which we knew Luckily we met at an we wanted in life
the restaurant (where I am chief vegetable peeler!) from April to December when temperatures near the 40s and head over to Cornwall, where Abdel has now taken up oil painting and cooking for friends and family. He loves the beautiful coastline and the
warmth of the people there, as I do the landscape of Tafraout and its hospitable residents. The Dalai Lama once said that
love and cooking require that you take great risks. I like to think we’re proving him right!
Jane’s latest novel, The Salt Road, inspired by her life in Tafraout, is out now (Penguin, £8.99)
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