In the Name of Our Fathers

Exciting and fast-paced, this debut novel by a young Somali writer is set against the fall of a ruling dictatorship in Africa in 1991, and the ensuing panic in the capital city. The first-person narrative tells of a traumatic passage to adulthood in circumstances which many experienced but which none would have chosen.

Ali is seventeen and interested in having a good time. But his immediate, self-centered concerns are suddenly and dramatically interrupted, and his life is forever changed as he struggles to come to terms with the chaos around him. This often-dark story is streaked with tenderness and optimism.