First published 2020
Ilyas comes back to his village after German colonial forces took him as a child and made him fight against his own people. His parents have vanished. His sister Afiya has been given away to another family. Hamza arrives at the same time, a young man who was sold into military service rather than stolen. He served an officer who shielded him, leaving him marked by that protection. Hamza owns nothing except his clothes. He wants work, safety, and Afiya's love. These three young people become bound together by circumstances beyond their control. They build lives, find employment, and discover romance while another war grows on a distant continent. This new conflict threatens to pull them away from the fragile stability they have created together.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, african-literature, war, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Africa, Germany
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
288 pages · Paperback · Bloomsbury
Content warnings: colonialism, war