Lyrics Alley

part of the scenic backdrop.' -- Rachel Holmes, Head of Literature and Spoken Word Southbank Centre 'In many respects, Aboulela's family tale is a universal one... Understanding all too well how a family can shape an individual's destiny is what gives her tale its humanity... But it is in her vivid, beautifully original portrayals of battling wives, Nabilah and Waheeba, that her real genius lies.' THE HERALD (Glasgow) 'the graceful and elegantly told saga of the powerful and affluent Abuzeid family...The book explores tensions and contradictions within Islam and Sudan still relevant today, in particular those that affect women...Aboulela writes with a light touch. Her sensitivity towards and understanding of her characters' motives ensure that they are people first and never become mere schematic metaphors...This beautiful book is testament to what might have been as well as what might still be.' -- Jane Charteris LITERARY REVIEW 'Lyrics Alley is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country... As British rule nears its end, the country is torn between modernising influences and past traditions - a conflict reflected in the growing tensions between Mahmoud's two wives. It is a tale of desire, loss, despair and reconciliation.' THE MIDDLE EAST 'Aboulela's skill is in teasing out nuance in different contexts, while making the reader care about her characters as individuals... The author succeeds in creating characters which convince us; they are as imperfect, unpredictable and endearing as real life.' TLS 'Set in 1950s Sudan, Leila Aboulela's latest novel, Lyrics Alley a family saga about a poet, beautifully elaborates on how tragedy can bring a gift in its wake.' -- Mariella Frostrup PSYCHOLOGIES 'a powerful Sudanese family saga of the 1950s, inspired by the life of her poet uncle...A great read, thoroughly reserached, and now shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' South Asia and Europe Best Book Prize.' BANIPAL - LIBYAN FICTION 'Aboulela paints the history that unfolds behind the family upheaval with a delicate hand...she offers characters that absorb and fascinate...Particularly well-drawn is the battle over whether to circumcise the family's daughters...its power lies in its depiction of humanity; the anguished rage of a mother at what has been done to her daughter, the vindictive envy of the old wife passed over for the new, a child's bewildered pain and fear.' THE ECONOMIST 'The characters are astutely shaded, and their varying relations to Islam are beautifully rendered. The novel's sense of internal timing is excellent, and the prose is smooth and clear. As Nur's poem "Eid Crescent" has it: "Let me narrate the story of two souls / Whose love was struck by the evil eye, / In a twist which Fate had hidden..." As a tale of stricken love between two souls, Lyrics Alley is impressive.' THE GUARDIAN