My sister, Christine, recommended this as a pick for the Africa reading challenge. When she described it to me, I imagined it to be a fairly light romance. I was wrong!! But I liked it anyway.
The Translator, by Leila Aboulela, is the story of Sammar, a widow from Sudan, who is currently living in Scotland working as a translator for a professor. Her young son is living with her aunt back in the Sudan. Sammar is a devout Muslim, but falls in love with her employer (who also falls in love with her.) The story revolves about Sammar's challenge of what to do- marry a man that is not of her faith, or leave someone that she loves dearly. I don't want to give away the story, and it's hard to describe without spoilers. It wasn't what I was expecting, and I had a little difficulty getting into the story at first, but Aboulela does an excellent job of balancing out the present day with the past, helping the reader to understand a little more about Sammar. She also does a good job of describing the locales- both in Scotland and in Sudan. And the issue of faith is definitely one worth exploring.
1 comment:
Thanks for the review. I'll check this out :)
I see you've read some books on the Middle East of late. I'd highly recommend "The Bookseller of Kabul," if you haven't already come across it.
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