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Secret Son [Paperback]

Laila Lalami (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 4 Feb 2010

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...

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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Viking (4 Feb 2010)
  • Language: Unknown
  • ISBN-10: 0670918296
  • ISBN-13: 978-0670918294
  • Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 2.2 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 585,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Laila Lalami
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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

About the Author

Moroccan born Laila Lalami is known internationally for her blog, www.moorishgirl.com, and is author of the acclaimed short story collection Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. Shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing and recipient of an Oregon Literary Arts grant and Fulbright Fellowship, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.
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Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
3.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Secret Son tells the story of Youseff El Mekki... 31 Mar 2010
By Fleur Fisher TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
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.... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Review for the unabridged Audible version 22 May 2011
By DubaiReader TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
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.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not outstanding. 7 Aug 2011
By lil' girly
Format:Paperback
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.
The first couple of chapters i was not impressed, it bored me to death. But as i got through it, is got much, much more exciting! I was extremely suprised when he came back to his mother and his best friend Amin started beating him. Lalami was extremely good in descriptive writing and i liked the way we new about the past as i worked my way through. I was in Morocco when i bought it because i finished my previous with no other to read. So my mother and i caught a taxi and asked to go to a good Moroccan book shop with the only wall of English books in Marakech. There wasn't much choice, nearly all of them were religious studies and Moroccan to English dictionary's. I spotted Secret Son and thought it would be to old for me due to the title. Although when i read the back and read out the plot my mind changed, i thought i could do with a classic kind of book compared to the chick-lit's that i usually enjoy. Overall, this is a great book and i reccomend it to anyone (but maybe not young children!)
:D
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3.0 out of 5 stars Readable but not ground breaking 11 July 2011
By Jala sufian
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am an avid reader of fiction from the Arab world and had high expectations of this novel based on reviews I had read. This novel is easy to get into, fairly short and does hold your interest. However the characters lack any real depth, the story is predictable and the ending abrupt. I like to read books which leave me thinking about the characters or the issues raised snd while this book does highlight corruption and inequality, it doesnt engage the reader enough to leave a lasting effect.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Good, if slightly predictable 6 July 2011
By Minnilux
Format:Paperback
This book draws up a detailed and convincing account of what it means to be young and poor in contemporary Morocco. Its protagonist, Youssef el-Mekki, a sensitive 19-year old English literature student from the slums of Casablanca, has grown up believing that his father was a poor teacher who died in an accident when Youssef was 2.
However, as Youssef and the reader find out, Youssef's father is a wealthy businessman, who had an affair with Youssef's mother, employed as a nurse to his then pregnant wife. This is the starting point of an ultimately tragic story, in which literally all the characters are held accountable for their character flaws, big and small.

While, on one hand, Youssef's story is rather predictable, if moving (don't expect any major plot twists) and the author's prose style lacks lyricism and has an almost "journalistic" quality to it, on the other hand, the book cogently explores much larger questions ranging from the current state of affairs in North Africa, including the root causes of violent extremism, to what it means to truly belong.
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