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Zainab Takes New York

Author : Ayesha Harruna Attah

Publisher : Headline Accent

Page : 296 pages

File Size : 48,95 MB

Release : 2021-08-19

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 1472288408

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Book Description

'A sweet, charming, funny story about finding friendship, finding yourself, and love' Netgalley Reviewer 'I was waiting for a book like this!' Netgalley Reviewer ***INCLUDED IN THE AFRICA CENTER'S ROUND-UP OF 50 NOTABLE AFRICAN BOOKS OF 2021*** ___________________________________ Zainab Sekyi is on a quest to find herself. . . She's moving to New York City to pursue her lifelong dream to become an illustrator, but she doesn't just want to get a job. She's also on a mission to make enough money to go on a night out, buy a whole bottle of wine (not just a glass) and, most importantly of all, to fall in love. But as she grows accustomed to the hustle and bustle of city life - with the help of her new roommate Mary Grace, and life-long friend, Densua - she begins to hear the voices of her ancestors in her mind. . . Could understanding her family's past hold the key to Zainab's future? A charming romcom about one woman learning to fall in love in one of the most magical cities on earth, Ayesha Harruna Attah's novel is perfect for fans of Uzma Jalaluddin, Kiley Reid and Angela Makholwa. ___________________________________ Readers love Zainab Takes New York. . . 'If you're looking for a cute fun read, here is your next book' Netgalley Reviewer, 5 stars 'This was just the most beautiful book, from it's gorgeous cover to the immersive storyline. I haven't read anything quite as engaging as this in recent years!' Netgalley Reviewer, 5 stars 'Ayesha has a way of writing that makes it hard to put the book down.' Netgalley Reviewer, 5 stars 'This book is filled with so many lessons from incredible characters.' Netgalley Reviewer, 5 stars 'Charming' Netgalley Reviewer, 5 stars ___________________________________ Praise for Ayesha Harruna Attah: 'Beautifully written story that stimulates rich mental imagery' ***** Reader Review 'Very beautifully written' ***** Reader Review 'One of the best books I've read in the last 10 years!' ***** Reader Review 'Amazing worth reading' ***** Reader Review 'I couldn't put this book down' ***** Reader Review 'Thank you for a beautiful story' ***** Reader Review



The Deep Blue Between

Author : Ayesha Harruna Attah

Publisher : Lerner + ORM

Page : 165 pages

File Size : 43,99 MB

Release : 2022-03-01

Category : Young Adult Fiction

ISBN : 1728451035

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Book Description

Twin sisters Hassana and Husseina have always shared their lives. But after a raid on their village in 1892, the twins are torn apart. Taken in different directions, far from their home in rural West Africa, each sister finds freedom and a new start. Hassana settles in in the city of Accra, where she throws herself into working for political and social change. Husseina travels to Salvador, Brazil, where she becomes immersed in faith, worshipping spirits that bridge the motherland and the new world. Separated by an ocean, they forge new families, ward off dangers, and begin to truly know themselves. As the twins pursue their separate paths, they remain connected through their shared dreams. But will they ever manage to find each other again? “Uplifting . . . sizzles with sister-love and magic. What an incredible storyteller!”—Yaba Badoe, author of A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars



Return to Ruin

Author : Zainab Saleh

Publisher : Stanford University Press

Page : 336 pages

File Size : 12,67 MB

Release : 2020-10-06

Category : History

ISBN : 1503614123

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Book Description

This volume of exiles’ accounts “[uses] the stories as springboards to discussing Iraqi history, politicization, and diasporic experiences in depth” (International Journal of Middle East Studies). With the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iraqis abroad, hoping to return one day to a better Iraq, became uncertain exiles. Return to Ruin tells the human story of this exile in the context of decades of U.S. imperial interests in Iraq—from the U.S. backing of the 1963 Ba’th coup and support of Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1980s, to the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 invasion and occupation. Zainab Saleh shares the experiences of Iraqis she met over fourteen years of fieldwork in Iraqi London—offering stories from an aging communist nostalgic for the streets she marched since childhood, a devout Shi’i dreaming of holy cities and family graves, and newly uprooted immigrants with fresh memories of loss, as well as her own. Focusing on debates among Iraqi exiles about what it means to be an Iraqi after years of displacement, Saleh weaves a narrative that draws attention to a once-dominant, vibrant Iraqi cultural landscape and social and political shifts among the diaspora after decades of authoritarianism, war, and occupation in Iraq. Through it all, this book illuminates how Iraqis continue to fashion a sense of belonging and imagine a future, built on the shards of these shattered memories.



You Exist Too Much

Author : Zaina Arafat

Publisher : Catapult

Page : 182 pages

File Size : 48,52 MB

Release : 2020-06-09

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 1948226510

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Book Description

A “provocative and seductive debut” of desire and doubleness that follows the life of a young Palestinian American woman caught between cultural, religious, and sexual identities as she endeavors to lead an authentic life (O, The Oprah Magazine). On a hot day in Bethlehem, a 12–year–old Palestinian–American girl is yelled at by a group of men outside the Church of the Nativity. She has exposed her legs in a biblical city, an act they deem forbidden, and their judgement will echo on through her adolescence. When our narrator finally admits to her mother that she is queer, her mother’s response only intensifies a sense of shame: “You exist too much,” she tells her daughter. Told in vignettes that flash between the U.S. and the Middle East—from New York to Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine—Zaina Arafat’s debut novel traces her protagonist’s progress from blushing teen to sought–after DJ and aspiring writer. In Brooklyn, she moves into an apartment with her first serious girlfriend and tries to content herself with their comfortable relationship. But soon her longings, so closely hidden during her teenage years, explode out into reckless romantic encounters and obsessions with other people. Her desire to thwart her own destructive impulses will eventually lead her to The Ledge, an unconventional treatment center that identifies her affliction as “love addiction.” In this strange, enclosed society she will start to consider the unnerving similarities between her own internal traumas and divisions and those of the places that have formed her. Opening up the fantasies and desires of one young woman caught between cultural, religious, and sexual identities, You Exist Too Much is a captivating story charting two of our most intense longings—for love, and a place to call home.



Nightbloom

Author : Peace Adzo Medie

Publisher : Simon and Schuster

Page : 374 pages

File Size : 37,48 MB

Release : 2023-06-13

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 0861546571

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Book Description

'Remarkable' Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters' Street AKORFA AND SELASI WERE ONCE INSEPARABLE. NOW, THEY MUST REPAIR THEIR BROKEN RELATIONSHIP OR LOSE EACH OTHER FOREVER. Growing up in the same small Ghanaian town, Selasi and Akorfa were more than just cousins, they were best friends. The girls shared everything: their dreams, their desires, their every secret. But as they enter their teens Selasi begins to change, until Akorfa barely recognises the sullen, withdrawn girl she once knew so well. Years go by before they cross paths again, and their lives look very different now. Although they are separated by continents, they have each found success in their careers: Akorfa works in international development in the US; Selasi is a restaurateur running the hottest spot in Accra. It takes a crisis to pull them back together, forcing both women to confront shocking secrets and childhood trauma that neither one has been willing to address. Now they must bridge the gulf between them to stop history repeating itself. From the author of Reese's Book Club pick His Only Wife, Nightbloom is a powerful story about female friendship, the relationships that shape us and the people we never quite leave behind. 'I was hooked on Peace's writing! I found Nightbloom a blistering story, written with razor sharp precision.' Huma Qureshi, author of Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love



The Hundred Wells of Salaga

Author : Ayesha Harruna Attah

Publisher : Other Press, LLC

Page : 241 pages

File Size : 34,7 MB

Release : 2019-02-05

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 1590519957

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Book Description

Based on true events, a story of courage, forgiveness, love, and freedom in precolonial Ghana, told through the eyes of two women born to vastly different fates. Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that transforms her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father's court. These two women's lives converge as infighting among Wurche's people threatens the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the nineteenth century. Through the experiences of Aminah and Wurche, The Hundred Wells of Salaga offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.



Saturday's Shadows

Author : Ayesha Harruna Attah

Publisher :

Page : 320 pages

File Size : 29,57 MB

Release : 2015-01

Category : Africa, West

ISBN : 9789462380431

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Book Description

Set in the 1990s in West Africa, Saturday's Shadows is a novel about the slow, yet unpredictable implosion of a marriage. It is also a tale of love and devotion, as well as a study in the psychology of tyrants and how their rule destroys not only their subjects but themselves. Influenced by Naguib Mahfouz's Palace Walk (Anchor, 1956) and William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying (1930), Saturday's Shadows allows its four characters to narrate how they will do almost anything to find themselves.



New Monologues for Women

Author : Geoffrey Colman

Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing

Page : 118 pages

File Size : 43,68 MB

Release : 2016-06-30

Category : Drama

ISBN : 1472573536

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Book Description

New Monologues for Women features forty monologues from plays published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama recently. The monologues are selected by the editor, Geoffrey Colman, on account of their relevance to drama school students and recent graduates entering the profession. Each monologue is preceded by an introductory paragraph, written by the editor, outlining the setting, character type, and point in the plot. Suggestions are offered for staging, character interpretation, points of significance in the text, and how to draw from decisions made in professional productions. This collection is the go-to resource for the auditioning actor with an insatiable appetite for new, original and excellent material.



The Other Side of War

Author : Ferdinand Protzman

Publisher : National Geographic Books

Page : 260 pages

File Size : 19,4 MB

Release : 2006

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 9780792262114

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Book Description

Zainab Salbi's media profile soared with her first book, a memoir of growing up in Saddam Hussein's inner circle. Her foundation, Women for Women International, plays a vital role in helping to heal war-torn nations. Here, with images by award-winning photographers, Salbi presents a collection of letters and first-person narratives by amazing women who survived war's devastation and now must find the strength to rebuild families and communities. Overviews by the author explain how each nation's history led to violent conflict; then the women tell their stories--of horror, cruelty, and suffering, but also of profound inspiration, as they work toward renewal and toward the day their fierce determination is rewarded with productivity, prosperity, and lasting joy.--From publisher description.



Seven

Author : Farzana Doctor

Publisher : Dundurn

Page : 372 pages

File Size : 18,27 MB

Release : 2020-09-05

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 1459746414

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Book Description

FINALIST FOR THE 2021 TRILLIUM AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE 2021 EVERGREEN AWARD • AN INDIGO BEST BOOK OF 2020 • A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST INDEPENDENT READ FOR FALL 2020 • AN APPLE BOOKS BEST BOOK OF 2020 • A CBC BOOKS BEST CANADIAN FICTION BOOK OF 2020 • A NOW MAGAZINE TOP TEN BOOK OF 2020 "Be prepared for this novel to stay with you for a long time, especially its ending."—GLOBE AND MAIL "[An] extraordinary book... packed with discovery and jarring emotional arcs."—TORONTO STAR "Penetrating and subtle ... [An] immersive, absorbing portrait."—EDEN ROBINSON "Explores with courage and storytelling finesse the harsh truths within the ideals of kinship and community." —DAVID CHARIANDY "An urgent and passionate read." —VIVEK SHRAYA "Visceral and emotional... a courageous feat."—QUILL & QUIRE (starred review) A brave, soulfully written feminist novel about inheritance and resistance that tests the balance between kinship and the fight against customs that harm us. When Sharifa accompanies her husband on a marriage-saving trip to India in 2016, she thinks that she’s going to research her great-great-grandfather, a wealthy business leader and philanthropist. What captures her imagination is not his rags-to-riches story, but the mystery of his four wives, missing from the family lore. She ends up excavating much more than she had imagined. Sharifa’s trip coincides with a time of unrest within her insular and conservative religious community, and there is no escaping its politics. A group of feminists is speaking out against khatna, an age-old ritual they insist is female genital cutting. Sharifa’s two favourite cousins are on opposite sides of the debate and she seeks a middle ground. As the issue heats up, Sharifa discovers an unexpected truth and is forced to take a position.