Nadifa Mohamed

From the author ofThe Fortune Men, longlisted for The Booker Prize 2021... From Somalilands bitter past blooms a moving and mature novel of conflict and survival Independent It is 1988 and Hargeisa waits. Whispers of revolution travel on the dry winds but still the dictatorship remains secure. Soon, and through the eyes of three women, we will see Somalia fall. Nine-year-old Deqohas left the vast refugee camp she was born in, lured to the city by the promise of her first pair of shoes. Kawsar, a solitary widow, is trapped in her little house with its garden clawed from the desert, confined to her bed after a savage beating in the local police station. Filsan, a young female soldier, has moved from Mogadishu to suppress the rebellion growing in the north. And as the country is unravelled by a civil war that will shock the world, the fates of the three women are twisted irrevocably together. Intimate, frank, brimming with beauty and fierce love,The Orchard of Lost Soulsis an unforgettable account of ordinary lives lived in extraordinary times.*** Praise for Nadifa Mohamed *** Mohamed is a lyrical writer, and although her material could easily be exploited, she does not so much milk it for emotion as elevate it to a kind of searing poetry Publishers Weekly A writer of great humanity and intelligence. Nadifa Mohamed deeply understands how lives are shaped both by the grand sweep of history and the intimate encounters of human beingsKamila Shamsie, author ofHome FireThe Fortune Menconfirms Mohamed as a literary star of her generationObserverMohamed is . . . intent on expanding her world, listing its teeming varieties and presentinga wealth of character and language TLS Evocative and enlightening New Statesman As these three womens stories entwine, the result is a moving and captivating tale of survival and hope in a war-torn country, and confirms Mohameds stature as one of Britains best young novelists Stylist Three women watch, and suffer, as their native Somalia descends into brutal civil war. Its 1988. The atrocities pile up, but the authorial voice remains resolutely melodic Vogue With the unadorned language of a wise, clear-eyed observer, Nadifa Mohamed has spun an unforgettable tale. The Orchard of Lost Souls recounts not just a states descent into war, but wars most heartbreaking human toll: the death of dreams Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go

Det är i slutet av åttiotalet och Somalia är på randen till det inbördeskrig som landet fortfarande är drabbat av, och som har slagit sönder varje liten rest av ett politiskt system. I Förlorade själar får vi se de mänskliga dimensionerna av detta sammanbrott, i tre kvinnors kamp för överlevnad. Den kvinnliga soldaten Filsan kämpar för att försvara landets kommunistiska militärjunta men blir till slut den jagade, änkan Kawsar kämpar bokstavligt talat för sitt liv efter en svår misshandel av polisen, och flickan Deqo drömmer om sitt första par skor.
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WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZEGRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2013For fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, a stunning novel set in 1930s Somalia spanning a decade of war and upheaval, all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the world.Aden,1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world.Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the fascist Italian forces who control parts of East Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since he was a baby, is alive somewhere.This story of one boy's long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement and family.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022

''Chilling and utterly compelling, The Fortune Men shines an essential light on a much-neglected period of our national life'' Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland

Mahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiff''s Tiger Bay, 1952, which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors, Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father, chancer, some-time petty thief. He is many things, in fact, but he is not a murderer.

So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all eyes fall on him, Mahmood isn''t too worried. It is true that he has been getting into trouble more often since his Welsh wife Laura left him. But Mahmood is secure in his innocence in a country where, he thinks, justice is served.

It is only in the run-up to the trial, as the prospect of freedom dwindles, that it will dawn on Mahmood that he is in a terrifying fight for his life - against conspiracy, prejudice and the inhumanity of the state. And, under the shadow of the hangman''s noose, he begins to realise that the truth may not be enough to save him.

''A writer of great humanity and intelligence. Nadifa Mohamed deeply understands how lives are shaped both by the grand sweep of history and the intimate encounters of human beings'' Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire

''A novel of tremendous power, compassion and subtlety, it feels unsettlingly timely'' Pankaj Mishra

A short story by Nadifa Mohamed from the collection Reader, I Married Him: Stories inspired by Jane Eyre.In 'Party Girl', ahead of settling down, a woman looks back on her rebellious youth.Edited by Tracy Chevalier, the full collection, Reader I Married Him, brings together some of the finest and most creative voices in fiction today, to celebrate and salute the strength and lasting relevance of Charlotte Bronte's game-changing novel and its beloved narrator.

Yemen, 1935. Jama is a "market boy," a half-feral child scavenging with his friends in the dusty streets of a great seaport. For Jama, life is a thrilling carnival, at least when he can fill his belly. When his mother-alternately raging and loving-dies young, she leaves him only an amulet stuffed with one hundred rupees. Jama decides to spend her life's meager savings on a search for his never-seen father; the rumors that travel along clan lines report that he is a driver for the British somewhere in the north. So begins Jama's extraordinary journey of more than a thousand miles north all the way to Egypt, by camel, by truck, by train, but mostly on foot. He slings himself from one perilous city to another, fiercely enjoying life on the road and relying on his vast clan network to shelter him and point the way to his father, who always seems just a day or two out of reach.In his travels, Jama will witness scenes of great humanity and brutality; he will be caught up in the indifferent, grinding machine of war; he will crisscross the Red Sea in search of working papers and a ship. Bursting with life and a rough joyfulness, Black Mamba Boy is debut novelist Nadifa Mohamed's vibrant, moving celebration of her family's own history.