Reviews
A story of love and faith all the more moving for the restraint with which it is written'
J.M. Coetzee
A lyrical journey about exile, loss and love... poetry in motion'
The Sunday Times
An exceptionally well-crafted and beautifully written novel'
The Guardian
She pulls you into her world as she refracts British life, its smells and sounds, its advertisements and turns of phrase'
Independent
A subtle investigation into the meaning of exile and home, doubt and fait, loss and love. Leila Aboulela's writing is always beautifully observed, her voice one of restrained lyricism: she is a writer of rare and original talent
Duncan McLean
About the Book
The Translator is a story about love, both human and divine.
Sammar is a young Sudanese widow, working as an Arabic translator at a British university. Following the sudden death of her husband and estrangement from her young son, she drifts – grieving and isolated. Life takes a positive turn when she finds herself falling in love with Rae, a Scottish academic. To Sammar, he seems to come from another world and another culture, yet they are drawn to each other.
'Aboulela is a wonderfully poetic writer ... It is a pleasure to read a novel so full of feeling and yet so serene' – The Guardian
The Author
Leila Aboulela
Leila Aboulela was born in 1964, grew up in Khartoum and moved to the UK in her twenties to study at the London School of Economics. In 1992, while living in Aberdeen with two young children and a husband working offshore, Leila found comfort through writing about her home city. She is the author of several novels including The Translator and Minaret.
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