The novel begins with the execution of a character, Nuraddin, by the army. The setting is Juba, in southern Sudan before the country’s independence, during the long civil war between the North and South. The author explores the idea of a multi-ethnic family torn apart by the war, as a symbol of Sudan’s complex identity, with characters deeply rooted in Arabic as well as African cultures. Nuraddin and ‘Abdaddaim are the sons of a woman from the Dinka tribe, and an Arab trader from the North who settled in Juba during the colonial period. ‘Abdadda’im becomes a soldier in the government army, while his brother joins the rebels of the Anyanya separatist army; each representing the absurdity of the Sudanese civil war.

Approximate number of pages: 110 p.

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