1911: Sandro Comparetti is a young Italian man who is mobilised and deployed to Libya as a soldier. He is sent across the sea, stationed in the desert, and soon becomes aware of the lies he has been told about Libya. He crosses paths with Halima, a milkwoman from Tripoli, and her younger brother Hamad, but they are arrested and sent to a penal colony on the island of Ustica with several other civilians. In a clever play of chronological back-and-forths, the author recomposes the thread of history in a non-linear way, alternating points of view in the chapters. The novel begins a few months after the beginning of the war with Sandro returning to Italy after being shot in the shoulder and discharged from the army. He then meets with Paolo Valera (1850-1926), a real-life famous anti-war journalist with whom he will try to uncover what happened to these civilians and reunite with Halima. In her novel, Aisha Ibrahim subtly develops complex characters, while giving importance to the multiple experiences marked by the violence of war and colonialism.

Approximate number of pages: 200 p.

Foreign rights: contact the author