Secret Son
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Product Description
Review
A "powerful debut novel. . . .The culture and politics of contemporary Morocco are well displayed in this beautifully written tale, with the talented Lalami deftly portraying Youssef's struggles for identity, work, and family. A brilliant story of alienation and desperation that easily transports readers to hot, dusty Casablanca; highly recommended."-Library Journal, starred review
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
When a young man is given the chance to rewrite his future, he doesn't realize the price he will pay for giving up his past...
Casablanca's stinking alleys are the only home that nineteen-year-old Youssef El-Mekki has ever known. Raised by his mother in a one-room home, the film stars flickering on the local cinema's screen offer the only glimmer of hope to his frustrated dreams of escape. Until, that is, the father he thought dead turns out to be very much alive.
A high profile businessman with wealth to burn, Nabil is disenchanted with his daughter and eager to take in the boy he never knew. Soon Youssef is installed in his penthouse and sampling the gold-plated luxuries enjoyed by Casablanca's elite. But as he leaves the slums of his childhood behind him, he comes up against a starkly un-glittering reality...
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
... he has grown up in the slums of Casablanca with his mother, and now he is going to college, working and dreaming of a better life.
He believes that his father died in an accident, before he was born, before he had a chance to marry his mother. But he discovers that story is not true, it was a fabrication by his mother to try to protect them both. His father is very much alive.
Indeed he is a wealthy, if somewhat shady, businessman. A man who has a daughter, who is asserting her independence from her parents, and a man who has always wanted a son.
His father welcomes his son, installs him in a luxury flat, and finds him a job. And Youseff falls in with his plan, neglects his studies, his friends his mother.
The trouble is, his father tells no-one else about his new-found son. Well how could he? And, inevitably, when things go wrong Youssef has a long way to fall.
His mother stands by him, supports him, but when he falls in with bad company that may not be enough to save.
It's a simple story, but one built on classic lines. And it drew me in from the very first page and held me, swiftly turning the pages, until the very end.
Laila Lalami writes lovely, clear and elegant prose, and her story is very well-balanced. Plenty to hold the interest without there ever being too much to keep track of, and everything that is there is needed to make the story complete.
She evokes both the poor and the wealthy streets of Casablanca simply but very, very effectively.
But most of all this is a story driven by its characters, and they worked very well. Youssef was a terribly believable young man. I admired his mother, and felt for her as her son uncovered her secret and moved away from her, not really understanding that she had done her best for him, had given him so much. I cared less for his father, but his behaviour was understandable, if not likeable.
And if I have a small criticism, it was maybe that the characters, what they said, what they did, was often a little predictable. They almost invariably did exactly what I was expecting. And, of course, people often do just that, but just one or two gentle twists could have enriched the story.
This is a book with a lot to say. About the effects of lies told and secrets kept to protect loved ones. About class divisions and the way they determine and restrict lives. And, most of all, about loss, loyalty, and love.
It says it very well, with compassion but no sentimentality or preaching.
Secret Son is accomplished, and very readable, first novel.
It's a book that I am pleased to have discovered, thanks to its longlisting for this year's Orange Prize. I think its certainly worthy of that place, and that maybe it has the potential to cross over to a wider audience.
I'm not sure though that the extra star quality needed to make the shortlist is there -but it's a first novel, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Laila Lalami's name there before too long.
He believes that his father died in an accident, before he was born, before he had a chance to marry his mother. But he discovers that story is not true, it was a fabrication by his mother to try to protect them both. His father is very much alive.
Indeed he is a wealthy, if somewhat shady, businessman. A man who has a daughter, who is asserting her independence from her parents, and a man who has always wanted a son.
His father welcomes his son, installs him in a luxury flat, and finds him a job. And Youseff falls in with his plan, neglects his studies, his friends his mother.
The trouble is, his father tells no-one else about his new-found son. Well how could he? And, inevitably, when things go wrong Youssef has a long way to fall.
His mother stands by him, supports him, but when he falls in with bad company that may not be enough to save.
It's a simple story, but one built on classic lines. And it drew me in from the very first page and held me, swiftly turning the pages, until the very end.
Laila Lalami writes lovely, clear and elegant prose, and her story is very well-balanced. Plenty to hold the interest without there ever being too much to keep track of, and everything that is there is needed to make the story complete.
She evokes both the poor and the wealthy streets of Casablanca simply but very, very effectively.
But most of all this is a story driven by its characters, and they worked very well. Youssef was a terribly believable young man. I admired his mother, and felt for her as her son uncovered her secret and moved away from her, not really understanding that she had done her best for him, had given him so much. I cared less for his father, but his behaviour was understandable, if not likeable.
And if I have a small criticism, it was maybe that the characters, what they said, what they did, was often a little predictable. They almost invariably did exactly what I was expecting. And, of course, people often do just that, but just one or two gentle twists could have enriched the story.
This is a book with a lot to say. About the effects of lies told and secrets kept to protect loved ones. About class divisions and the way they determine and restrict lives. And, most of all, about loss, loyalty, and love.
It says it very well, with compassion but no sentimentality or preaching.
Secret Son is accomplished, and very readable, first novel.
It's a book that I am pleased to have discovered, thanks to its longlisting for this year's Orange Prize. I think its certainly worthy of that place, and that maybe it has the potential to cross over to a wider audience.
I'm not sure though that the extra star quality needed to make the shortlist is there -but it's a first novel, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Laila Lalami's name there before too long.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A good read, with interesting characters and a fascinating plot. Ms. Lalami writes extremely well and clearly and conjures up some delightful personal relationships between Youssef and his mother, his newly discovered father, and his friends. There are also some unexpected twists in the tale. It's easy to read and encourages you to turn the pages to find out what decisions Youssef is going to take in his challenging life. It provides a great insight into the extremes of Moroccan life and culture. A small criticism is that the introduction of foreign words and phrases is not handled as well as by, for example, Brigid Pasulka in "A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True". In that book the interjected Polish words are repeated, become clearly understandable, and eventually become engrained in your sub-conscious. In "Secret Son" I kept wondering "what might that mean?" when Moroccan words were used, which I found slightly irritating. On the whole though, well worth a read, and I look forward to the author's second book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is very hard for me to review this book as I struggled to understand the narrator, who had such a strong accent and put the sentance emphasis in the wrong place so frequently, that I felt I probably missed a lot of the detail. Having said that, the story itself has stayed with me and I'm rating it as a 4 star book in spite of the narrator. Perhaps it would have done better if I'd read it in hard copy, I wish I had.
I really felt for Youssef el-Mekki, a likeable lad, caught in poverty in the slums of Cassablanca (Morocco). With the best of intentions, his mother had hidden the identity of his father from him and led him to believe that he had died in an accident, helping a neighbour. When, at the age of nineteen, he forces the information from her, he discovers that he is not the person he'd always imagined, but has connections to the wealthy part of the city. He decides to meet his father, with both exciting and disastrous consequences.
I loved the portrayal of Yousef's mother, a hard working, long suffering woman, who loved Yousef, even when he abandoned her for a better life. Yousef's friends were also highly believable, and a typical mixture of good and bad.
I don't know how I'd expected the book to end but I did find the given ending a bit abrupt, a bit off key. A bit of a shock, in fact.
I shall certainly read Ms Lalami's book of short stories, but although it is available on Audible (with the same narrator), this time I shall read it in the printed version.
I really felt for Youssef el-Mekki, a likeable lad, caught in poverty in the slums of Cassablanca (Morocco). With the best of intentions, his mother had hidden the identity of his father from him and led him to believe that he had died in an accident, helping a neighbour. When, at the age of nineteen, he forces the information from her, he discovers that he is not the person he'd always imagined, but has connections to the wealthy part of the city. He decides to meet his father, with both exciting and disastrous consequences.
I loved the portrayal of Yousef's mother, a hard working, long suffering woman, who loved Yousef, even when he abandoned her for a better life. Yousef's friends were also highly believable, and a typical mixture of good and bad.
I don't know how I'd expected the book to end but I did find the given ending a bit abrupt, a bit off key. A bit of a shock, in fact.
I shall certainly read Ms Lalami's book of short stories, but although it is available on Audible (with the same narrator), this time I shall read it in the printed version.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good, but not outstanding.
Although the title of my review makes it sound it should be in 3 star, but i figured that 4 star was more appropriate for the read. Read more
Published 9 months ago by lil' girly
Readable but not ground breaking
I am an avid reader of fiction from the Arab world and had high expectations of this novel based on reviews I had read. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jala sufian
Good, if slightly predictable
This book draws up a detailed and convincing account of what it means to be young and poor in contemporary Morocco. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Minnilux
Compelling novel which had me hooked
I find the BBC's coverage of the Arab world deeply depressing: one dimensional, simplistic, emotional and defined by a set of prejudices formed within the leafy confines of... Read more
Published 15 months ago by An Historian
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