Author: Abdulrazak Gurnah
Year published: 2025
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 368 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): Tanzania
Summary: At the turn of the twenty-first century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university in Dar es Salaam with a new swagger and sense of ambition. There he catches the eye of Fauzia, who sees in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. When the two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all, they little imagine how deeply their fates will entwine and diverge. As rapidly accelerating global change reaches even their quiet corner of the world, bringing tourists, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.
Review: Gurnah is on of my daughter's favorite authors so when I saw he had a new novel, I figured I had to read it. I'll pass it on to my daughter now that I am finished. I liked Gurnah's By the Sea and Gravel Hearth (links to my review) and was really pleased when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021.
There is also something very appealing about the cover to this novel, it's like a piece of art I would notice and spend time with in a museum.
Having spent time in Zanzibar a couple of years ago and knowing the history and people from my ex's family and my daughter's work, I really felt steeped in the place of this novel. I could picture the streets, the beaches, the sites and scents of the island.
This is a character-driven novel, which I usually have a tougher time with, but the slow pace worked for me. I was brought into the characters' lives as they navigated their families, what was expected of them, and how they fit into the world. The tentacles of the extended family ring true to what I have experienced and the intertwining of all the characters makes the story flow well.
This is what I call a gentle read: a study of people, a bit of plot, and beautiful prose.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Cover love--Favorite color (I don't have a favorite, but the blue background color is one I really like)
- Diversity--all characters are Black African/Arab
- Literary Escapes--Tanzania
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