LeilaAboulela by scottishbookawards 
Leila Aboulela’s novel Lyrics Alley (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) is the story of an affluent, influential Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country and the near tragedy that threatens the legacy they’ve built for decades.
In 1950s Sudan, the powerful and sprawling Abuzeid dynasty has amassed a fortune with their trading firm, one of the only indigenous companies in a business dominated by their British occupiers. With Mahmoud Bey at its helm, they can do no wrong. But when Mahmoud’s son, Nur, the brilliant, handsome heir to his business empire, suffers a debilitating accident, his hopes of university and marriage to his beloved cousin, Soraya, are dashed.
As Sudan’s diverging ethnic and religious populations collide and British rule nears its end, the country is torn between modernizing influences and the call of traditions past—a divide reflected in the growing tensions between Mahmoud’s two wives: the younger, Nabilah, longs to return to Egypt and escape the dust of “backward-looking” Sudan; while Waheeba is confined to her open-air kitchen and resents Nabilah’s influence on her family. It is not until Nur begins to assert himself outside the strict cultural limits of his parents that both his own spirit and the frayed bonds of his family can begin to mend.
In Lyrics Alley, Leila Aboulela takes readers to the heart of what it means to have faith in an unforgiving world. Moving from the alleys of Sudan to cosmopolitan Cairo and a decimated post-colonial Britain, this sweeping tale of desire and loss, faith, despair, and reconciliationis one of the most accomplished and evocative portraits ever written of Sudanese society at the time of independence.
Extract
“On the last day that Soraya loved the sea, she was wearing her new blue dress. A dress that was made by a Greek dressmaker in Alexandria, the perfect beach dress. Fresh watery blue-and-white splashes; a crisp white bow pinching her waist. Everyone said she was pretty. On the beach, under an orange umbrella she sat squinting from the sun, alert to the crescendo and break of the waves. With her were her sister, Fatma, Fatma’s husband Nassir, and their two children. They were waiting for Nur to join them. Nassir was dozing in his deck chair. The newspaper he had been reading collapsed on the bulge of his stomach. He was too large for the shirt he was wearing and was perspiring in spite of the breeze. Fatma looked out of place wearing her pink tobe and annoyed that the children were kicking sand in her face. She preferred shopping to the beach. She would have been happier in Cairo but Soraya adored the Alexandria lifestyle; the waking up late to the sound of the waves and the aromas of a heavy breakfast. Waking up to the knowledge that all through the night Nur had been asleep on the couch in the living room, just outside the door, steps away from where she and the children slept.”
Reviews
“Vividly evoking the alleyways of Sudan, Egypt and Britain, this novel also movingly and meticulously traces the hidden pathways of the mind and heart with all its anger, shame, hate and love.” – The Telegraph
“The characters are astutely shaded, and their varying relations to Islam are beautifully rendered.” – The Guardian
“Aboulela employs beautiful, poetic language and vivid imagery to emphasise the importance of words and their meaning.” The Book Monkeys
“Rich in detail and generous in spirit toward its complex characters.” Kirkus Reviews
Links
Read a new piece by Leila Aboulela on winning the Fiction category.
Visit Leila Aboulela’s website to read about her inspiration for Lyrics Alley.
Watch a video of Leila Aboulela in conversation with Mariella Frostrup on Sky Arts’s Book Show.
Read Leila Aboulela’s short story ‘Missing Out’ online at Granta.
Explore the inspiration for Lyrics Alley in this article and interview at Khaleejesque.
