by Laila Lalami
First published 2009
Youssef El-Mekki watches movies flicker across cinema screens in Casablanca, dreaming of escape from the cramped room he shares with his mother. At nineteen, he knows every fetid alley of their neighborhood. The silver screen offers his only refuge from poverty and disappointment. His mother raised him alone, telling him his father was dead. Then Youssef learns the truth. His father lives and breathes somewhere in Morocco. This discovery shatters everything Youssef believed about his identity and his place in the world. He must decide whether to seek out the man who abandoned him or continue living the lie that shaped his childhood. The revelation forces Youssef to confront what family means when blood ties exist without love or responsibility.
Genres: literary-fiction, african-literature, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, found-family
Setting: Casablanca, Morocco
Period: 21st-century
291 pages · Paperback · Viking