River Spirit by Leila Aboulela
The spellbinding new novel from New York Times Notable Author and Caine Prize winner Leila Aboulela about an embattled young woman's coming of age during the Mahdist War in 19th century Sudan.Leila Aboulela, hailed as a versatile prose stylist (New York Times) has also been praised by J.M. Coetzee, Ali Smith, and Ben Okri, among others, for her rich and nuanced novels depicting Islamic spiritual and political life. Her new novel is an enchanting narrative of the years leading up to the British conquest of Sudan in 1898, and a deeply human look at the tensions between Britain and Sudan, Christianity and Islam, colonizer and colonized. In River Spirit, Aboulela gives us the unforgettable story of a people who--against the odds and for a brief time--gained independence from foreign rule through their willpower, subterfuge, and sacrifice.When Akuany and her brother Bol are orphaned in a village raid in South Sudan, they're taken in by a young merchant Yaseen who promises to care for them, a vow that tethers him to Akuany through their adulthood. As a revolutionary leader rises to power - the self-proclaimed Mahdi, prophesied redeemer of Islam - Sudan begins to slip from the grasp of Ottoman rule, and everyone must choose a side. A scholar of the Qur'an, Yaseen feels beholden to stand against this false Mahdi, even as his choice splinters his family. Meanwhile, Akuany moves through her young adulthood and across the country alone, sold and traded from house to house, with Yaseen as her inconsistent lifeline. Everything each of them is striving for - love, freedom, safety - is all on the line in the fight for Sudan.Through the voices of seven men and women whose fates grow inextricably linked, Aboulela's latest novel illuminates a fraught and bloody reckoning with the history of a people caught in the crosshairs of imperialism. River Spirit is a powerful tale of corruption, coming of age, and unshakeable devotion - to a cause, to one's faith, and to the people who become family.
LEILA ABOULELA was born in Cairo and grew up in Khartoum. She has written four other novels: The Translator, Minaret, and Lyrics Alley, all of which were longlisted for the Orange Prize, and The Kindness of Enemies. Lyrics Alley won Novel of the Year at the Scottish Book Awards and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. She was awarded the Caine Prize for her short story The Museum, included in her collection Elsewhere, Home--winner of the Saltire Fiction Prize. She lives in Aberdeen.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780802160669 |
| ISBN 10 | 0802160662 |
| Title | River Spirit |
| Author | Leila Aboulela |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press |
| Year published | 2023-03-07 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |