Crossbones

Nuruddin Farah author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Granta Books

Published:6th Jun '13

Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date

Crossbones cover

A gripping novel about zealotry, pirates and Somalia in crisis

A dozen years after his last visit, Jeebleh returns to his beloved Mogadiscio to see old friends. He is accompanied by his son-in-law, Malik, a journalist intent on covering the region's ongoing turmoil. What greets them at first is not the chaos Jeebleh remembers, however, but an eerie calm enforced by ubiquitous white-robed figures bearing whips. Meanwhile, Malik's brother, Ahl, has arrived in Puntland, the region notorious as a pirates' base. Ahl is searching for his stepson, Taxliil, who has vanished from Minneapolis, apparently recruited by an imam allied to Somalia's rising religious insurgency. The brothers' efforts draw them closer to Taxliil and deeper into the fabric of the country, even as Somalis brace themselves for an Ethiopian invasion. Jeebleh leaves Mogadiscio only a few hours before the borders are breached and raids descend from land and sea. As the uneasy quiet shatters and the city turns into a battle zone, the brothers experience firsthand the derailments of war. Crossbones is a fascinating look at individuals caught in the maw of zealotry, profiteering and political conflict, by one of Africa's most highly acclaimed international writers.

  • Short-listed for The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award 2012 (UK)

ISBN: 9781847086105

Dimensions: 198mm x 146mm x 25mm

Weight: 377g

400 pages