By the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021
A searing tale of a young woman discovering her troubled family history and cultural past
'Gurnah writes with wonderful insight about family relationshipsand he folds in the layers of history with elegance and warmth'The Times
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Dottie Badoura Fatma Balfour finds solace amidst the squalor of her childhood by spinning warm tales of affection about her beautiful names. But she knows nothing of their origins, and little of her family history or the abuse her ancestors suffered as they made their home in Britain.
At seventeen, she takes on the burden of responsibility for her brother and sister and is obsessed with keeping the family together. However, as Sophie, lumpen yet voluptuous, drifts away, and the confused Hudson is absorbed into the world of crime, Dottie is forced to consider her own needs. Building on her fragmented, tantalising memories, she begins to clear a path through life, gradually gathering the confidence to take risks, to forge friendships and to challenge the labels that have been forced upon her.
Abdulrazak Gurnah nasce a Zanzibar il 20 dicembre 1948 ed è uno scrittore e romanziere tanzaniano naturalizzato britannico conosciuto soprattutto per essere stato vincitore nel 2021 del Premio Nobel per la letteratura.
Vive la sua adolescenza a Zanzibar, al largo della costa dell'Africa Orientale dove termina la scuola secondaria nel 1966. In quel periodo avvennero molti conflitti in quella parte di paese; infatti, egli spesso ricorda questo momento della sua vita come fortemente caratterizzato da violenze e rivoluzioni. Decide,