Why a Booktrail?
1960s, 2000s: A man leaves Yemen and a woman to study in Paris. On his return both have changed
Suslov’s Daughter
What you need to know before your trail
As a young man growing up under communism in South Yemen, Imran finds himself drawn to Hawiya, the daughter of a high-ranking official in the ruling Marxist party. He departs Aden, the seaport city of his childhood, to study literature in Paris, hoping to ‘see the sunset of capitalism with his own eyes.’ Years later he returns to Yemen and meets Hawiya again – only to find that she is now a niqab-wearing Salafist, calling on people to join the conservative Islamist movement.
Locations
Reset- Yemen - Aden
- A: Sheikh Othman
- B: Aden harbour
- France - Paris
- C: Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
- D: Alésia metro station
Travel Guide
Yemen
Most of the novel is set in Yemen. Paris is mentioned but this is only to show contrast and the world that opens up creatively for him before he returns to his homeland.
The novel spans the 1960s to the early 21st century, from the independence of southern Yemen and the subsequent establishment of The People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, to the Unification of Yemen in 1990 and the Arab Spring. Set against the backdrop of Yemeni history, Habib Abdelrab Sarori’s Arabic Booker long-listed novel traces one man’s lifelong search for love and his own political ideology.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Suslov’s Daughter
Destination: Aden, Paris Author/guide: Habib Abdulrab Sarori Departure Time: 1960s, early 2000s
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