Book Review of The End of the Sahara by Said Khatibi (trans Alexander E Elinson)

 

Name of Book: The End of the Sahara (Nihayat Al-Sahra in Arabic original)

Author: Said Khatibi (trans Alexander E. Elinson)

ISBN: 978-1-916725-22-5

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press 

Type of book: Algeria, Middle East, Islam, singing,  haram things,  club,  September to October 1988, revolution, movies, mystery, thriller 

Year it was published: 2026 (2022)

Summary:

On an early autumn morning in 1988, on the outskirts of an unnamed Algerian city, a shepherd stumbles upon the lifeless body of Zaza Zaghouani, a stunning nightclub singer who left her hometown seeking a brighter future. 

The story is set in 1988 Algeria. It takes place in just forty days, ending as mass protests erupt in the country. In a small town on the edge of the desert, plagued by a locust infestation and a food shortage, teetering on the brink of uprising, the body of Zakia Zaghouani—the singer at the Sahara Hotel—is discovered. Suspicion immediately falls on her lover, who is thrown into prison. The incompetent and greedy Inspector Hamid begins an investigation. So does the defense lawyer of the main suspect. Family, friends, and close ones give their testimonies, finding themselves confronted with their past. Secrets, betrayals, grudges, but also dreams and hopes shed light on their connection to the each person harbors, for one reason or another, the desire to take revenge on her.

Characters:

Main characters would be Ibrahim, Noura, Bachir, as well as Inspector Hamid and Maimoun. Ibrahim strikes me as an angry young man who seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to life and who is doing the best he can in a given situation which is not ideal. Noura is an unmarried woman who happens to be a lawyer and is determined to find evidence to save her cousin Bachir from jail. Bachir is Zakia's boyfriend who seems to be self reflective and often knows one side of Zakia but not another. He is also a bit traditional. Inspector Hamid is best described as corrupt and someone who wants to close the case rather than bring the perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately Maimoun didn't make a big impression on me aside from being the hotel owner and seeming to have feud with Inspector Hamid. 

Theme:

I read the book from cover to cover, but I guess its sort of a butterfly effect on how past shapes the present

Plot:

The story is written in first person narrative from a lot of characters' points of view. While a ton of characters got the chapters, in my opinion the main characters would have been Ibrahim, Noura, and Bachir, with Inspector Hamid and Maimoun also sort of main characters, although I sort of struggled with Maimoun's character and trying to understand him. The story is divided into three parts, and lasts from September 9th, 1988 until October 8th, 1988. From growing up in '90s and '00s, I am definitely impressed with what seems to be the accuracy of the available technology at the time and I also liked feeling as if I am with the characters living their moments. 

Author Information:
(from goodreads)

N/A

Opinion:

I barely know anything about Morocco, much less about the Africa/Middle Eastern side of the globe, thus I appreciated learning more about the side of the world that I hadn't visited. I liked the writing, the atmosphere which struck me as incredibly intimate and the characters as well. I also enjoyed learning about social mores of Algeria. While I enjoyed some of the main characters, I definitely felt as if there was a lot going on and I couldn't understand some of the relationships that the characters had to one another despite the character sheet or I couldn't keep track of some of them. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)