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On Monday, March 27 at 6 PM the Open Fiction Book Group will meet to discuss The Translator by Leila Aboulela.
American readers were introduced to the award-winning Sudanese author Leila Aboulela with Minaret, a delicate tale of a privileged young African Muslim woman adjusting to her new life as a maid in London. Now, for the first time in North America, we step back to her extraordinarily assured debut about a widowed Muslim mother living in Aberdeen who falls in love with a Scottish secular academic. Sammar is a Sudanese widow working as an Arabic translator at a Scottish university. Since the sudden death of her husband, her young son has gone to live with family in Khartoum, leaving Sammar alone in cold, gray Aberdeen, grieving and isolated. But when she begins to translate for Rae, a Scottish Islamic scholar, the two develop a deep friendship that awakens in Sammar all the longing for life she has repressed. As Rae and Sammar fall in love, she knows they will have to address his lack of faith in all that Sammar holds sacred. An exquisitely crafted meditation on love, both human and divine, The Translator is ultimately the story of one woman's courage to stay true to her beliefs, herself, and her newfound love.
The Open Fiction Book Group reads one paperback novel a month and its discussions are led by local author Chrysler Szarlan. The group typically meets the fourth Monday of each month at 6 p.m. It's free and everyone is welcome to join.
Each selection of the Open Fiction Book Group discussion group is discounted 20% at the Odyssey Bookshop. Click on the link below to order online. Use code BOOKCLUB to apply the discount at checkout.
