Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

In the opening of Dreams of Trespass, the narrator states that “looking for the frontier has become my life’s occupation” (3). How does Fatima “look for the frontier” in various ways throughout the autobiography? Why is identifying boundaries and barriers so important in Fatima’s world?

Aunt Habiba’s most popular story concerns a woman who grows wings and flies away from a harem. Why does this tale resonate so strongly with Fatima and the other residents of the harem? How does the idea of a winged woman reflect the larger themes of the novel?

Fatima spends most of her childhood behind the walls of her city harem, but she visits her grandmother in the countryside every year. Compare and contrast the urban harem in Fez, and Grandmother’s farm harem. How does the farm’s more natural setting impact the lives of its residents? In what ways does the farm provide freedom, and in what ways does this rural harem still confine women?