Under the Tripoli Sky

Under the Tripoli Sky

by Adriana Hunter (Translator), Adriana Hunter (Translator), Kamal Ben Hameda (Author)

Synopsis

Tripoli in the 1960s. A sweltering, segregated society. Hadachinou is a lonely boy. His mother shares secrets with her best friend Jamila while his father prays at the mosque. Sneaking through the sun-drenched streets of Tripoli, he listens to the whispered stories of the women. He turns into an invisible witness to their repressed desires while becoming aware of his own. ------ Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'This is a fascinating portrait of a closed society. On the surface this quiet vignette of a story could be read as gently nostalgic, but underneath the author reveals the seething tensions of a traditional city coming to terms with our modern world. The book gives us privileged access to a place where men and women live apart and have never learned to respect each other.' Meike Ziervogel, Publisher

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 112
Publisher: Peirene Press
Published: 24 Sep 2014

ISBN 10: 1908670169
ISBN 13: 9781908670168

Media Reviews
'The reader feels he is peeking through a half-drawn curtain on a secret feminine world in a patriarchal society ... Excellent.' David Mills, SUNDAY TIMES ------ 'Beautifully simple and restrained prose.' Lucy Popescu, HUFFINGTON POST ------ 'It ought to be commended for its lack of sentimentality about this much-mythologized chapter of modern Libya.' Hasham Matar, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT ------ 'A short but shimmering read.' Malcolm Forbes, NATIONAL
Author Bio
Kamal Ben Hameda was born in Tripoli in 1954. In his early twenties he moved to France. He now lives in Holland, where he works as a Jazz musician and writer. Kamal has published several collections of poetry. In 2012 La Compagnie des Tripolitaines (Under the Tripoli Sky) was nominated for the Prix litteraire francophone de l'Alliance francaise, Prix du Livre les Orientales and Le Prix Ulysse.