A Mouth Full of Salt

(Hardback)

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Description

The Nile brings them life. But the Nile also takes away.

1970s. A village in North Sudan is shaken by the news that a little boy has drowned. Then the village camels die of a mysterious illness; the date tree fields catch fire and burn to the ground. The women whisper rumours of a mysterious sorceress from the Nuba mountains. It is the dry season. The men have no work, the women have their own troubles, the children continue to play where the river runs over its own banks. For 14-year-old Fatima escape lies in the big city of Khartoum.

1950s. In Khartoum, Nyamakeem is 33, a single mother making her way in a world that keeps girls and women back. Worse, she's from South Sudan. As civil war swells, her position in the capital becomes untenable. Nyamakeem decides to leave for the village.

A Mouth Full of Salt uncovers a country teetering between centuries of tradition and seismic change,

Reviews

Gaafar tells the intertwined stories of three women who are confronted with injustice. A conversation about responsible writing, role models and the forgotten war in Sudan.' -- Qantara
Sudan-set A Mouth Full of Salt shows how political decisions inform our personal choices, transporting us to a unique time and place that is little understood. The Nile in all its complex, chaotic energy continues to beckon long after the final page' -- BookBrunch
A stunning, powerful story of a community in the north of Sudan, struck by calamity and loss Reem explores so much in this novel, including motherhood, the power of education, othering, community structures, tribalism and so much more. -- The Diverse Bookshelf Podcast
I found this novel and its many strands utterly compelling; it is a quietly devastating tale that leads the reader towards the inevitable conclusion that, where there is injustice, sooner or later the balance must be restored. -- Reads & Reveries
A riveting debut novel ..A Mouth Full of Saltcaptivates from the first line with its intoxicating mix of high intrigue, socio-political commentary and (post)colonial history. -- Afropean Magazine
A Mouth Full of Salt skilfully recounts the nuanced history of two countries that were divided long before they had any say in the matter. Gaafar approaches this narrative with compassion, confronting uncomfortable truths head-on. -- The New Arab

Author Bio

Reem Gaafar is a writer, physician and filmmaker based in Canada. Her writing has appeared in African Arguments, African Feminism, Teakisi Magazine, Andariya and 500 Words Magazine and the collection I Know Two Sudans. Her short story Finding Descartes was published in Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices (HarperVia, 2023). A Mouth Full of Salt is her debut novel and Winner of the Island Prize 2023.