Nuruddin Farah’s North of Dawn is launching in Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
Nuruddin Farah, one of the most respected names in world writing today, is most famous for his novels. The Somali novelist has also written plays both for stage and radio, as well as short stories and essays. He has lived and taught in many countries like the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Sudan, India, Uganda, Nigeria, and South Africa. He now lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
The newest of his novels North Of Dawn, published by Penguin Random House in December 2018, is his fourteenth offering to the world. The blurb from the publisher goes thus;
A couple’s tranquil life abroad is irrevocably transformed by the arrival of their son’s widow and children, in the latest from Somalia’s most celebrated novelist.
For decades, Gacalo and Mugdi have lived in Oslo, where they’ve led a peaceful, largely assimilated life and raised two children. Their beloved son, Dhaqaneh, however, is driven by feelings of alienation to jihadism in Somalia, where he kills himself in a suicide attack. The couple reluctantly offers a haven to his family. But on arrival in Oslo, their daughter-in-law cloaks herself even more deeply in religion, while her children hunger for the freedoms of their new homeland, a rift that will have lifealtering consequences for the entire family.
Set against the backdrop of real events, North of Dawn is a provocative, devastating story of love, loyalty, and national identity that asks whether it is ever possible to escape a legacy of violence–and if so, at what cost.
The book will be launching at the distinguished author’s adopted home of Cape Town at the Book Lounge with Nancy Richards as his discussant. The event starts at 5:30pm.
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