Review by Booklist Review
Sudan 2002. The country's north and south are at war, leaving the town of Saraayat caught in the middle. An NGO compound there houses two Americans, cartographer Alex and filmmaker Dena; also there are William, a native Nilot, who serves as Alex's translator, and Mustafa, a 12-year-old nomad. Another nomad, Layla, the cook, is also part of this retinue but doesn't live in Saraayat. Though Nilots and nomads are traditionally enemies, this group lives together peacefully. Their lives change dramatically, however, when the government sends a contingent of soldiers and Nomad militiamen to fight rebel forces; life becomes hell as the unspeakably cruel militia plunder and destroy nearby Nilot villages. In the midst of all this, William declares his love for Layla, and the two agree to a mixed marriage. But can it endure? Abbas' first novel gets an A for its evocation of setting and a B for its execution and generally successful characterization. However, individual readers will have to decide for themselves what grade to give the hurriedly abrupt ending.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Abbas debuts with an impressive account of five people who work for a humanitarian organization as war threatens their town on the border of North and South Sudan. William Luol, a Nilot, has been hired as a translator for Alex, an American, who's been sent there to make a map of the area to guide aid efforts. William has a crush on Layla, the organization compound's nomad cook, whom he worries about when she doesn't show for work one day and a burned corpse is found upriver. He asks 12-year-old Mustafa, who cleans the compound, to find out where she lives, while Dena, a Sudanese American filmmaker staying for a few months, documents the herdsmen who brought the body to be buried, as rumors fly of renewed clashes with Southern rebels. Layla reappears and things between her and William blossom, while Alex, frustrated by impediments to his mapmaking, fights with Dena. Meanwhile, Mustafa secretly gets involved running guns for the rebels, and all become on edge when militias arrive in town and target Nilotes. With security deteriorating, Alex tries to evacuate, but a weather delay forces him back, and events that follow have heavy consequences for all. Abbas skillfully navigates boundaries between the disparate players and builds a fine drama out of their negotiations and bonds. Readers will be captivated by this immersive novel. (Jan.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT The Second Sudanese Civil War forms the backdrop for this disturbing debut novel from Fatin Abbas, soon to be a professor of creative writing at MIT. Five disparate characters meet on an NGO compound in Saraaya, a village uneasily straddling north and south. Naïve, unprepared American surveyor Alex is remapping the area to reflect changes in grazing and agricultural landscapes, a result of global warming. William, a multilingual member of the southern Nilote tribe, serves as guide and translator, while Layla, from an impoverished family of northern nomads, cooks for the group and mothers 11-year-old Mustafa, a clever, ambitious factotum. Prickly Sudanese American filmmaker Dena completes this motley crew, each searching for fulfillment in one of the most volatile areas on the continent. As Alex impatiently awaits permits, this pseudo family bonds over shared meals, learning bits of each other's languages and accepting differences. The burgeoning love between Layla and Matthew creates an atmosphere of joy that the author tempers with the discovery of a burned corpse near the compound, a harbinger of looming disaster. VERDICT Hopeful and despairing in equal measure, Abbas takes readers on an emotional roller coaster, employing her protagonists as metaphor for Sudan's possibilities if it was not mired in poverty, hunger, and tribal rivalries. A propulsive read; highly recommended.--Sally Bissell
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
