Leila understands from early on that she is not part of normal Sudanese society. Her parents are unable to care for her, so she is banished to a strict orphanage, along with children born outside marriage. At school, Leila and her best friend Amal are called 'daughters of sin'. Her pretty sister, Zulima, is married off to a much older man, while the nannies say an abandoned girl is lucky to get an offer of marriage at all. At the age of ten, both Leila and Amal endure female circumcision. Suffering appalling prejudice, and thought to bring the 'evil eye', Leila remains outgoing and brave and manages to get an education. She goes on to marry, have four children, and divorce, yet even grown up she continues to know the stigma of being abandoned. Undaunted, Leila founds her own charity to help those shunned as outcasts and she continues to work tirelessly to dispel prejudice. This beautifully written, graceful memoir perfectly evokes the heat and colour of the North African desert and tells of the true friendships that are born out of adversity.
Daughter of Dust
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About the Author
Leila Aziz was born in Khartoum, Sudan in 1969, where she still lives, running her charity for adult orphans who face discrimination. Wendy Wallace is an award-wining journalist and writer. She has spent many years in Sudan, working mainly for the UN. She won the title Education Journalist of the year in 2001, and has written for The Times, Telegraph, Guardian and several Middle Eastern publications. She lives in London.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By B. Foley
Format:Paperback
Wendy Wallace has crafted a beutifully written book about Leila Aziz, a remarkable Sudanese woman brought up in the tough environment of Sudan in the 1970s and 1980s as a social outcast.
The book never descends into the mawkish "miserable childhood" genre. Certainly some of Leila's experiences are harrowing, but they are seen through the eyes of a girl for whom normality is tough and who simply yearns to be treated with respect and kindness. Wallace never imposes her own views on her subject and captures a genuine rarely heard voice of an ordinary woman of Sudan, propelled into extraordinary measures in her struggle to lead a normal life.
It is ultimately an optimistic book, which has something to say about quiet determination, chipping away at an apparently insurmountable problem until it starts to crumble. It reminded me of a song called Millwork which has lyrics that say: "It goes like it goes, like the river flows, and time just rolls right on. And maybe what's good gets a little bit better and maybe what's bad gets gone."
Bravo to Leila for her courage and patience and to Wendy Wallace for her talent to bring Leila's story to life.
The book never descends into the mawkish "miserable childhood" genre. Certainly some of Leila's experiences are harrowing, but they are seen through the eyes of a girl for whom normality is tough and who simply yearns to be treated with respect and kindness. Wallace never imposes her own views on her subject and captures a genuine rarely heard voice of an ordinary woman of Sudan, propelled into extraordinary measures in her struggle to lead a normal life.
It is ultimately an optimistic book, which has something to say about quiet determination, chipping away at an apparently insurmountable problem until it starts to crumble. It reminded me of a song called Millwork which has lyrics that say: "It goes like it goes, like the river flows, and time just rolls right on. And maybe what's good gets a little bit better and maybe what's bad gets gone."
Bravo to Leila for her courage and patience and to Wendy Wallace for her talent to bring Leila's story to life.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was third in the queue to read my copy of this book, because members of my family could not put it down, and I wanted to have it for myself! This book is so good...
Leila's story has a positive (and necessary) outcome, but all the same it is deeply saddening to read of her experiences, and Ms Wallace's depiction and consummate writing bring it all to life. I especially appreciated how cleverly the unfolding story was sequenced and all the minute textural detail woven in.
We all three found ourselves transported into Leila's world. The author manages to translate and embody a deeply moving voice, and the geographical context is satisfyingly authentic. Europeans reading this story, can acquire a genuine sense of what it is like belonging to, and being brought up in a place, culture and society radically different from their own and because they are fully able to identify with the experience of the characters, find themselves haunted by an aching bond of human empathy.
When I finished reading this book I continued under its spell for days.
Leila's story has a positive (and necessary) outcome, but all the same it is deeply saddening to read of her experiences, and Ms Wallace's depiction and consummate writing bring it all to life. I especially appreciated how cleverly the unfolding story was sequenced and all the minute textural detail woven in.
We all three found ourselves transported into Leila's world. The author manages to translate and embody a deeply moving voice, and the geographical context is satisfyingly authentic. Europeans reading this story, can acquire a genuine sense of what it is like belonging to, and being brought up in a place, culture and society radically different from their own and because they are fully able to identify with the experience of the characters, find themselves haunted by an aching bond of human empathy.
When I finished reading this book I continued under its spell for days.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By L. Wallis
Format:Paperback
Wendy Wallace takes us from the abandoned Sudanese girl Leila's early childhood right through to her 40s, by which time she is running a centre for abandoned babies and children in Khartoum. Wallace writes in the first person and evokes Leila's suffering during her difficult, loveless childhood with tremendous compassion but never pity. Leila has the same needs, dreams and desires as any six year old girl anywhere in the world, and the author seems to have effortlessly got right inside her head and to recognise her feelings of isolation.
Right from the start we see that Leila has a strong inner core that will sustain her through the unimaginable horrors ahead, including abuse from her carers, or nannies as they are called, and genital mutilation when she is l2. Wallace could never have written about Sudan so authentically without having spent a lot of time there, and when she describes the smell of sesame seeds roasting or falafel cooking, we can almost taste it, as I could the desert dust in the back of my throat as I turned the pages.
It is harrowing to grasp through Leila's experiences the realities of growing up in a society that allows middle aged men to marry children, while women who have sex outside of such 'marriages', decided in mosques by men who sign womens' lives away without their consent, are regarded as no better than prostitutes and cast out by society. It is mostly the products of these 'unholy' liaisons who are the abandoned babies Wallace writes of, but she does it without judgement or malice, allowing Leila's experience to speak for itself.
This is a giant of a book that reads more like a novel than a biography. Think of Slumdog Millionaire, except that the prize at the end is that Leila survives to help other abandoned children. If that sounds worthy, it shouldn't. Wallace writes with deep affection for Sudan, and with heartfelt respect for a woman who has, relatively speaking, flourished against the odds and brought some love into the lives of these unwanted, stigmatized children who are cast out by wider Sudanese society through no fault of their own. I couldn't put it down.
Right from the start we see that Leila has a strong inner core that will sustain her through the unimaginable horrors ahead, including abuse from her carers, or nannies as they are called, and genital mutilation when she is l2. Wallace could never have written about Sudan so authentically without having spent a lot of time there, and when she describes the smell of sesame seeds roasting or falafel cooking, we can almost taste it, as I could the desert dust in the back of my throat as I turned the pages.
It is harrowing to grasp through Leila's experiences the realities of growing up in a society that allows middle aged men to marry children, while women who have sex outside of such 'marriages', decided in mosques by men who sign womens' lives away without their consent, are regarded as no better than prostitutes and cast out by society. It is mostly the products of these 'unholy' liaisons who are the abandoned babies Wallace writes of, but she does it without judgement or malice, allowing Leila's experience to speak for itself.
This is a giant of a book that reads more like a novel than a biography. Think of Slumdog Millionaire, except that the prize at the end is that Leila survives to help other abandoned children. If that sounds worthy, it shouldn't. Wallace writes with deep affection for Sudan, and with heartfelt respect for a woman who has, relatively speaking, flourished against the odds and brought some love into the lives of these unwanted, stigmatized children who are cast out by wider Sudanese society through no fault of their own. I couldn't put it down.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
loved it
I would certainly recommend this book, it is an excellent read very interesting very good to read and inspiring I loved it
m perrin
m perrin
Published 4 months ago by m perrin
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautifully Written Page Turner
The story of Leila, the courageous and spirited survivor of the most devastating prejudice, is very moving and powerful. Read more
Published 6 months ago by K. Mayfield
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, immersive and informative
I really enjoyed this book. I liked how it was written from Leila's point of view, and it told me a lot about Sudan and growing up as an orphan. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ms. J. A. Beer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Read
I read this book with my book group, and every one of us loved it. It's humanity, fluid narrative and empathy lifted it entirely from the welter of misery memoirs (which I avoid:... Read more
Published on 21 April 2010 by V. Dell
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very special book
I read this book for my book club - and oh what a book it is. Beautifully written through Leila's eyes as she grows up in a way that says how it is without being overly... Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2010 by Mrs. T. R. Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book Group Book
We had this for our book group a couple of months ago and we really enjoyed it and learnt a lot about the current life in Sudan. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by A. C. Lynn
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