Welcome to Paradise

(Hardback)

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The Strait of Gibraltar - the shortest point separating Europe and Africa. Fifteen kilometres of water across which, when the sun shines, Moroccan and Spanish towns can see each other as clear as day, and at night, when the surfers and the eco-tourists have gone, immigrant traffickers pit themselves against two sets of coast guard. Traffickers such as Morad - holding court at a back table in the Caf France in Tangier, he allocates passengers to boatmen, collects fares, and regales prospective clients with dazzling stories of life in the North. The would-be migrants are a disparate group, held together only by their longing to be free. Kacem Djoudi, for instance, who has escaped from the civil war in Algeria; Nuara, with her newborn child, whose husband hasn't been in touch for months since moving to France; Pafadnam and Yarc , who have survived the brutal journey from Mali; Aziz, the young narrator, and his cousin Reda, severed, in different ways, from their families in southernmost Morocco. As the moment approaches for them to cross, it becomes clear not only how much they have overcome to get there, but also how much still awaits them.

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The Strait of Gibraltar: immigrant traffickers pit themselves against two sets of coast guards. Traffickers such as Morad who allocates passengers to boatmen and regales prospective clients with dazzling stories of life in the north. The would-be migrants are held together only by their longing to be free. Kacem has escaped from the civil war in Algeria; Nuara, with her newborn child, has lost touch with her husband; Pafadnam and Yarc have survived the brutal journey from Mali; Aziz, the young narrator severed from his family in Morocco. As the moment approaches for them to cross, it becomes clear not only how much they have overcome to get there, but also how much still awaits them. Tense and blackly compassionate, this is a striking tale of countries bled dry of their people, and of impossible media fantasies of Western life

Author Bio

Mahi Binebine was born in Marrakech in 1959. He studied in Paris and taught mathematics, until he became recognised first as a painter, then as a novelist. Between 1994 -1999 he lived in New York, when his paintings began to be acquired by the Guggenheim Museum. He now lives in Marrakech with his family.