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Book: North of Dawn
Much of Nuruddin Farah's extensive work, in addition to the topic of political turmoil, revolves around the living conditions of women in his Somali homeland.
In his latest novel, unequal gender relations also play an important role, which is set in the Somali diaspora of Norway. First and foremost, however, the author addresses the upheavals caused by radical Islamists. Dhaqaneh, the son of a middle-class family living in Oslo for many years, joins the jihadists in Somalia and is killed in a suicide bombing. His family subsequently takes in his daughter-in-law Waliya and her two children. Waliya is, however, under the influence of fundamentalist hate preachers and vehemently rejects her parents-in-law and their enlightened thinking. As a result mother and grandparents engage in a fierce battle over the two children. Unlike his son, whose education he left to his wife, grandfather Mugdi is committed to his grandchildren. Farah's plea for tolerance and respect is illustrated by the terrorist Anders Breivik's massacre of a girl of Somali origin who is a friend of his.
This book review was written in German by Barbara Müller for the current Africa Bulletin.