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Review
'The scattered but powerful Abuzeid family are a force in 1950s Sudan. When the patriarch's son is injured, everything must change. A thought provoking glimpse into an unfamiliar society as old ways give way to new.' (WOMAN & HOME )
'an assured and highly readable portrait of a family in flux and two societies - Sudan and Egypt - on the cusp of momentous changes...Lyrics Alley is an evocative description of the struggle between tradition and modernization, a conflict that is still being fought in present-day Islamic culture.' (NEW INTERNATIONALIST )
'Soraya is smitten with her cousin, Nur, heir to the family business but everything falls apart when he suffers a near-fatal injury and the betrothal is called off. In beautiful subtle prose Aboulela reveals the emotional consequences of their separation, and how the couple must renegotiate their futures...Aboulela explores themes of love, faith and divided families with tender restraint.' (MARIE CLAIRE )
'haunting...Vividly evoking the alleyways of Sudan, Egypt and Britain, this novel also movingly and meticulously traces the hidden pathways of the mind and heart with all its anger, shame, hate and love.' (Anita Sethi THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
'Leila Aboulela has created a story for all the senses, one to be savoured and enjoyed.' (FINANCIAL TIMES )
'a panoramic exposition of a country on the brink of independence, a splendid representation of upper class Sudanese life, and a fascinating exploration of the lives of women...Lyrics Alley is gripping and meticulously researched.' (MSLEXIA )
'Its themes include desire, love, poetry, popular music, film, privilege and poverty. At the core is the dilemma of a culture torn between the divergent calls of tradition and modernity. This is an unprecedented novel that breaks new ground in writing about Sudanese society at the time of independence...this is a novel where human stories are writ large in the engaging foreground, with politics and history alluded to with almost demure elegance as part of the scenic backdrop.' (Rachel Holmes, Head of Literature and Spoken Word Southbank Centre )
'In many respects, Aboulela's family tale is a universal one... Understanding all too well how a family can shape an individual's destiny is what gives her tale its humanity... But it is in her vivid, beautifully original portrayals of battling wives, Nabilah and Waheeba, that her real genius lies.' (THE HERALD (Glasgow) )
'the graceful and elegantly told saga of the powerful and affluent Abuzeid family...The book explores tensions and contradictions within Islam and Sudan still relevant today, in particular those that affect women...Aboulela writes with a light touch. Her sensitivity towards and understanding of her characters' motives ensure that they are people first and never become mere schematic metaphors...This beautiful book is testament to what might have been as well as what might still be.' (Jane Charteris LITERARY REVIEW )
'Lyrics Alley is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country... As British rule nears its end, the country is torn between modernising influences and past traditions - a conflict reflected in the growing tensions between Mahmoud's two wives. It is a tale of desire, loss, despair and reconciliation.' (THE MIDDLE EAST )
'Aboulela's skill is in teasing out nuance in different contexts, while making the reader care about her characters as individuals... The author succeeds in creating characters which convince us; they are as imperfect, unpredictable and endearing as real life.' (TLS )
'Set in 1950s Sudan, Leila Aboulela's latest novel, Lyrics Alley a family saga about a poet, beautifully elaborates on how tragedy can bring a gift in its wake.' (Mariella Frostrup PSYCHOLOGIES )
'a powerful Sudanese family saga of the 1950s, inspired by the life of her poet uncle...A great read, thoroughly reserached, and now shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' South Asia and Europe Best Book Prize.' (BANIPAL - LIBYAN FICTION )
'Aboulela paints the history that unfolds behind the family upheaval with a delicate hand...she offers characters that absorb and fascinate...Particularly well-drawn is the battle over whether to circumcise the family's daughters...its power lies in its depiction of humanity; the anguished rage of a mother at what has been done to her daughter, the vindictive envy of the old wife passed over for the new, a child's bewildered pain and fear.' (THE ECONOMIST )
'The characters are astutely shaded, and their varying relations to Islam are beautifully rendered. The novel's sense of internal timing is excellent, and the prose is smooth and clear. As Nur's poem "Eid Crescent" has it: "Let me narrate the story of two souls / Whose love was struck by the evil eye, / In a twist which Fate had hidden. . ." As a tale of stricken love between two souls, Lyrics Alley is impressive.' (THE GUARDIAN )
'an assured and highly readable portrait of a family in flux and two societies - Sudan and Egypt - on the cusp of momentous changes...Lyrics Alley is an evocative description of the struggle between tradition and modernization, a conflict that is still being fought in present-day Islamic culture.' (NEW INTERNATIONALIST )
'Soraya is smitten with her cousin, Nur, heir to the family business but everything falls apart when he suffers a near-fatal injury and the betrothal is called off. In beautiful subtle prose Aboulela reveals the emotional consequences of their separation, and how the couple must renegotiate their futures...Aboulela explores themes of love, faith and divided families with tender restraint.' (MARIE CLAIRE )
'haunting...Vividly evoking the alleyways of Sudan, Egypt and Britain, this novel also movingly and meticulously traces the hidden pathways of the mind and heart with all its anger, shame, hate and love.' (Anita Sethi THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
'Leila Aboulela has created a story for all the senses, one to be savoured and enjoyed.' (FINANCIAL TIMES )
'a panoramic exposition of a country on the brink of independence, a splendid representation of upper class Sudanese life, and a fascinating exploration of the lives of women...Lyrics Alley is gripping and meticulously researched.' (MSLEXIA )
'Its themes include desire, love, poetry, popular music, film, privilege and poverty. At the core is the dilemma of a culture torn between the divergent calls of tradition and modernity. This is an unprecedented novel that breaks new ground in writing about Sudanese society at the time of independence...this is a novel where human stories are writ large in the engaging foreground, with politics and history alluded to with almost demure elegance as part of the scenic backdrop.' (Rachel Holmes, Head of Literature and Spoken Word Southbank Centre )
'In many respects, Aboulela's family tale is a universal one... Understanding all too well how a family can shape an individual's destiny is what gives her tale its humanity... But it is in her vivid, beautifully original portrayals of battling wives, Nabilah and Waheeba, that her real genius lies.' (THE HERALD (Glasgow) )
'the graceful and elegantly told saga of the powerful and affluent Abuzeid family...The book explores tensions and contradictions within Islam and Sudan still relevant today, in particular those that affect women...Aboulela writes with a light touch. Her sensitivity towards and understanding of her characters' motives ensure that they are people first and never become mere schematic metaphors...This beautiful book is testament to what might have been as well as what might still be.' (Jane Charteris LITERARY REVIEW )
'Lyrics Alley is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country... As British rule nears its end, the country is torn between modernising influences and past traditions - a conflict reflected in the growing tensions between Mahmoud's two wives. It is a tale of desire, loss, despair and reconciliation.' (THE MIDDLE EAST )
'Aboulela's skill is in teasing out nuance in different contexts, while making the reader care about her characters as individuals... The author succeeds in creating characters which convince us; they are as imperfect, unpredictable and endearing as real life.' (TLS )
'Set in 1950s Sudan, Leila Aboulela's latest novel, Lyrics Alley a family saga about a poet, beautifully elaborates on how tragedy can bring a gift in its wake.' (Mariella Frostrup PSYCHOLOGIES )
'a powerful Sudanese family saga of the 1950s, inspired by the life of her poet uncle...A great read, thoroughly reserached, and now shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' South Asia and Europe Best Book Prize.' (BANIPAL - LIBYAN FICTION )
'Aboulela paints the history that unfolds behind the family upheaval with a delicate hand...she offers characters that absorb and fascinate...Particularly well-drawn is the battle over whether to circumcise the family's daughters...its power lies in its depiction of humanity; the anguished rage of a mother at what has been done to her daughter, the vindictive envy of the old wife passed over for the new, a child's bewildered pain and fear.' (THE ECONOMIST )
'The characters are astutely shaded, and their varying relations to Islam are beautifully rendered. The novel's sense of internal timing is excellent, and the prose is smooth and clear. As Nur's poem "Eid Crescent" has it: "Let me narrate the story of two souls / Whose love was struck by the evil eye, / In a twist which Fate had hidden. . ." As a tale of stricken love between two souls, Lyrics Alley is impressive.' (THE GUARDIAN )
Book Description
A lyrical and moving novel by a twice ORANGE-listed rising star, set in 1950s Sudan and Egypt.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this novel, set in Sudan and Egypt in the 1950s.
It covers a lot of ground, but the story at the centre is the true relationship between Sudan's famous poet and songwriter, Hassan Awad Aboulela and his childhood sweetheart, represented as Nur and Soraya in the novel. They were cousins, betrothed from a young age, until a serious accident changed everything. Hassan Awad Aboulela was Leila Aboulela's uncle and although he died before she was born, he remained quite a family tradition.
The remaining characters are fictional, two very different wives for Nur's father - traditional, Waheeba from Sudan and fashionable Nabilah from Egypt. There is a lot of animosity between these two women, which comes to a head through Nabilah's daughter.
On the male side of the family is the patriach, Mahmoud, a forceful businessman, and his other son, Nassir, and Mahmoud's brother and business partner, Idris. There is also an interesting character, Ustaz Badr, a devout Muslim, who becomes Nur's tutor and advisor, plus Ustaz Badr's troublesome brother.
With this cast of thousands, I found the family tree at the beginning was a great help.
There is an interesting diversion into the opinions on women being allowed to wear spectacles, which was hugely frowned on by some members of such circles and all of these events are woven into the politics of a Sudan ruled by both Egypt and Britain, as it starts to exert its independance.
This was a book group read and made for an interesting evening's discussion.
It covers a lot of ground, but the story at the centre is the true relationship between Sudan's famous poet and songwriter, Hassan Awad Aboulela and his childhood sweetheart, represented as Nur and Soraya in the novel. They were cousins, betrothed from a young age, until a serious accident changed everything. Hassan Awad Aboulela was Leila Aboulela's uncle and although he died before she was born, he remained quite a family tradition.
The remaining characters are fictional, two very different wives for Nur's father - traditional, Waheeba from Sudan and fashionable Nabilah from Egypt. There is a lot of animosity between these two women, which comes to a head through Nabilah's daughter.
On the male side of the family is the patriach, Mahmoud, a forceful businessman, and his other son, Nassir, and Mahmoud's brother and business partner, Idris. There is also an interesting character, Ustaz Badr, a devout Muslim, who becomes Nur's tutor and advisor, plus Ustaz Badr's troublesome brother.
With this cast of thousands, I found the family tree at the beginning was a great help.
There is an interesting diversion into the opinions on women being allowed to wear spectacles, which was hugely frowned on by some members of such circles and all of these events are woven into the politics of a Sudan ruled by both Egypt and Britain, as it starts to exert its independance.
This was a book group read and made for an interesting evening's discussion.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What intrigued me about `Lyrics Alley' before I started reading it was the time and place of its setting. I don't know very much about the 1950's and I certainly know nothing about Sudan. However this is the scene we find ourselves in as we are thrown into the lives of the Abuzeid family, a rather renowned and sprawling dynasty in their time yet a family also slightly at odds with one another. In some ways an incredibly close family, in fact brothers Mahmoud and Idris marry their offspring off to each other they are also at war with power struggles occasionally between brothers and fathers and sons.
Yet it's the story of the men of the household Mahmoud, his sons Nassir and Nur and Mahmoud's brother Idris that left me feeling somewhat cold. As their family business develops and the world they find themselves changes with the sun setting on British rule and self government on the horizon I should have been gripped by their changing circumstance and all it brought, yet I wasn't really. I mean I read it happily enough, I liked how the story spread through Sudan, Egypt and England, I just wasn't hooked.
The opposite was the case with the women though. In particular the story of Idris's daughter Soraya, who is the first female in the family to get a full education despite her forthcoming enforced betrothal to her cousin Nur, and her storyline thereafter called out to me. As did the stories and relationships of Mahmoud's first forced wife Waheeba and his second self chosen bride Nabilah. The latter being from Cairo and of a new age which frowns upon the idea of female circumcision and the ways of old, which is the complete polar opposite of Waheeba. This for me was where the story really lay and indeed it felt like it was where the author's heart lay, it read truer, it had more passion.
`Lyrics Alley' is a true family saga. It has a huge scope and Aboulela manages to pull a rather complicated family together and make you interested in them. I did think that there was a forewarning you might as a reader be confused by the family tree in the front, and indeed I did occasionally need it. She also captures a very interesting period in the history of Sudan, its just that the atmosphere and true impact of it all only seemed to come alive when the women were in charge, and if they had been I think `Lyrics Alley' would have gone from being a rather good book to an incredible one.
Yet it's the story of the men of the household Mahmoud, his sons Nassir and Nur and Mahmoud's brother Idris that left me feeling somewhat cold. As their family business develops and the world they find themselves changes with the sun setting on British rule and self government on the horizon I should have been gripped by their changing circumstance and all it brought, yet I wasn't really. I mean I read it happily enough, I liked how the story spread through Sudan, Egypt and England, I just wasn't hooked.
The opposite was the case with the women though. In particular the story of Idris's daughter Soraya, who is the first female in the family to get a full education despite her forthcoming enforced betrothal to her cousin Nur, and her storyline thereafter called out to me. As did the stories and relationships of Mahmoud's first forced wife Waheeba and his second self chosen bride Nabilah. The latter being from Cairo and of a new age which frowns upon the idea of female circumcision and the ways of old, which is the complete polar opposite of Waheeba. This for me was where the story really lay and indeed it felt like it was where the author's heart lay, it read truer, it had more passion.
`Lyrics Alley' is a true family saga. It has a huge scope and Aboulela manages to pull a rather complicated family together and make you interested in them. I did think that there was a forewarning you might as a reader be confused by the family tree in the front, and indeed I did occasionally need it. She also captures a very interesting period in the history of Sudan, its just that the atmosphere and true impact of it all only seemed to come alive when the women were in charge, and if they had been I think `Lyrics Alley' would have gone from being a rather good book to an incredible one.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I consider Lyrics Alley to be Leila Aboulela's finest literary work.
The best Sudanese authors have often contextualised the social backdrop of their writing either within a purely Sudanese setting that is more often than not rural, or through its diametric opposite in the West. Lyrics Alley breaks new ground by juxtaposing the traditional Northern Sudanese culture with its urbane Egyptian counterpart, a feat which is by no means straightforward due to the loaded historical relations between the neighbouring countries which both converge and diverge. Never before has an author explored the cultural intricacies of respective Sudanese and Egyptian personas with such insight and frank unconstraint.
Lyrics Alley manages to accurately resurrect a tumultuous yet positive period in Sudan's pre-independence history that has not received its fair share of documentation. The publication of Lyrics Alley at this time, during the referendum on the secession of South Sudan is fortuitously timely. Lyrics Alley is part Al-Tayeb Saleh, part Carlos Fuentes' Crystal Frontier where he examines the contradictions of Mexican society.
The best Sudanese authors have often contextualised the social backdrop of their writing either within a purely Sudanese setting that is more often than not rural, or through its diametric opposite in the West. Lyrics Alley breaks new ground by juxtaposing the traditional Northern Sudanese culture with its urbane Egyptian counterpart, a feat which is by no means straightforward due to the loaded historical relations between the neighbouring countries which both converge and diverge. Never before has an author explored the cultural intricacies of respective Sudanese and Egyptian personas with such insight and frank unconstraint.
Lyrics Alley manages to accurately resurrect a tumultuous yet positive period in Sudan's pre-independence history that has not received its fair share of documentation. The publication of Lyrics Alley at this time, during the referendum on the secession of South Sudan is fortuitously timely. Lyrics Alley is part Al-Tayeb Saleh, part Carlos Fuentes' Crystal Frontier where he examines the contradictions of Mexican society.
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