Best Books 2023: River Spirit, Leila Aboulela

Sudan Events

A delight and an honour to see River Spirit among the 10 Best Historical Fiction of 2023 chosen by The New York Times .
In very good company and with a wonderful write-up by Alida Becker “”The hypocrisies of colonialism and religious fanaticism are explored from many perspectives in this kaleidoscopic portrait of late-19th-century Sudan.
When a charismatic leader claiming to be the Mahdi, prophesied as the redeemer of Islam, rallies an army of malcontents and true believers that rampages throughout the countryside, old bonds and old certainties are imperiled, and then smashed to bits.
The intrepid young woman at the center of the story is caught up in the resultant turmoil, sold into slavery yet determined to be reunited in Khartoum with the scholar she has come to see as her personal savior.”