Badawi by Mohed Altrad
Published to wide critical acclaim in France, Badawi is Mohed Altrad's heartrending debut novel, inspired by the author's own narrative arc from Bedouin orphan to engineer and finally billionaire businessman.
In the Syrian desert, a young boy watches as his mother dies. She was a repudiated woman, abandoned by the boy's powerful father, leaving Maïouf to his scornful grandmother. Though the Bedouin tribes have stopped their centuries-long travels across the dunes, their tents long since converted into sedentary shacks, Maïouf's grandmother wants him to carry on tradition as a shepherd. But from the first time he sneaks off to the white-walled schoolhouse to watch the other children learn, Maïouf envisions a different future for himself.
This is one extraordinary child's story of fighting for an education, and a life, he was never supposed to have, from a tiny desert village to the city of Raqqa, from the university halls of Montpellier on to the oil fields of Abu Dhabi.
But is a life of exile the one he wants? Can a child whose name means "the abandoned one'' ever make a home for himself? With each step forward, he feels the love of his youth, a steadfast young Syrian woman named Fadia, and the shifting, haunted sands of his native village pulling him back toward the past he thought he had left behind.
Format: Paperback | 240 pages
Dimensions (cm): 21.59 x 14.61 x 1.91 | 288g
Publication Date: 06 Sep 2016
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Imprint: Black Cat
Publication City/Country: New York, United States
Language: English
Edition Number: 1st English ed.
ISBN10: 0802125794
ISBN13: 9780802125798
Condition: Very Good
A book that does not look new and has been read but is in excellent condition. Very minimal damage to the cover, including very minor scuff marks along the edges of the front cover. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. Very minimal wear and tear.