Book Review: “Ghost Season ” by Fatin Abbas
Khartoum – Sudan Events
In a recent conversation in Brussels about Sudanese literature, three of its eminent writers — Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, Hammour Ziada and Stella Gaitano — argued that it is the novelists of Sudan, not its historians or academics, who have mastered the courage to dive deep into Sudan’s wounds and taboos.
Indeed, such bravery meets us instantly in this debut novel by Fatin Abbas.
Set in Saraaya, a town on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the novel follows five dynamic characters in a compound owned by an American NGO, whose boss in Khartoum sees war as an opportunity to raise more money.
While the book begins slowly, it picks up halfway through, when Sudan’s complexities are realized through the stories of those living in the compound, and the author’s rich imagination comes to life.
Here we have Mustafa, a 12-year-old local boy, who does the chores. He’s joined by Dena, from Khartoum, who grew up in Seattle and is in town to make a documentary. Alex is a white American from the suburbs of Cleveland who, as a geographer, is tasked with mapping Saraaya for the NGO. The compound is managed by William, a South Sudanese translator who doubles as a fixer. William’s ambitions in Khartoum were thwarted by racism from the north Sudanese. His job at the NGO brought him dignity and a decent income, and reignited his dream to build a home, which he now hopes to do with Layla, a cook in the compound. But as a northern nomad and a Muslim, Layla is beyond reach for Catholic, Nilotic William.
The characters live quiet lives, though not in peace, since the civil war can engulf the town at any moment. Alas, things begin to unravel when a burned-up body turns up at the compound. Everyone is anxious about the return of violence, some more than others.
Alex, who arrived at this “exotic” place imagining he would be “running naked through a plain” and living a life of freedom away from the watchful eyes of his suburban community back home, is rattled out of his naïveté. For others, the conflict is initially an opportunity. It gives urgency to William’s infatuation and budding relationship with sensual, audacious Layla — but can war bring them closer? For Mustafa, the looming violence invigorates his entrepreneurial spirit: He sells women’s underwear when he’s not working at the compound but then starts trading in guns. Dena, who, given her short hair, trousers and shirt, is often mistaken for a boy, is nonchalant about the rumors of imminent turmoil and continues to live fearlessly, as confident in her surroundings as she is in her sexuality.
The book portrays the cyclical nature of violence and the psychological scars it leaves on ordinary people from all sides, highlighting how life persists despite the damage. No matter how deep Sudan’s troubles are, many will summon the courage to rise above brutality and strive for happiness, love and the simple things.
