Lead Review

• Book: Crossbones
• Location: Mogadishu (Mogadiscio), Somalia
• Author: Nuruddin Farah

More than 40 years ago, Farah’s first novel From a Crooked Rib described Mogadishu as “a nice place but full of wicked people”. Civil war has destroyed Somalia’s capital, no longer the “pearl of the Indian Ocean”. Farah offers us a cast of patiently drawn characters responding to the relentlessness of Somali violence. The ruined buildings are echoed in the degradation of the protagonists’ bodies as they are wounded and fall ill. Crossbones is a novel of despair and dismay, but it demonstrates yet again Farah’s unwavering commitment to a people who endure.

The Independent

Back to book