Harmattan - Softcover

Gavin Weston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905802757 ISBN 13: 9781905802753

Publisher: Myrmidon Books Ltd, 2013

Synopsis

Set against the stark beauty of sub-Saharan West Africa Harmattan is evocative and heart-wrenching. Suffused with an anger that is all the more powerful for its masterful understatement, this is a story that will be talked about for years to come.

Harmattan (n. A dry, dusty wind that blows from the Sahara- probably from the Arabic haram, a forbidden or accursed thing).

Haoua is a young girl growing up in a remote village in the Republic of Niger. Spirited independent and intelligent, she has benefited from a stable home life and a loving and attentive mother and enjoys working and playing with her siblings and friends.

Haoua worships her elder brother, Abdelkrim, a serving soldier who sends money home to support the family. But, on his last home visit, Abdelkrim quarrels with their father accusing him of gambling away the money he sends and being the cause of their mother s worsening health. It also emerges that their father plans to take a second wife.

Despite this Haoua finds contentment in her schoolwork, her dreams of becoming a teacher and in writing assiduously to the family in Ireland who act as her aid sponsors.

But for Haoua, there are new storm clouds on the horizon: as civil strife mounts in Niger, she begins to fear for Abdelkrim s safety; her mother s illness is much more serious and further advanced than anyone had recognised; and her father s plans are turning out to be far more threatening than she could have ever imagined.

Approaching her twelfth birthday, Haoua feels alone and vulnerable for the very first time in her life.

Perfect for readers who loved A Thousand Splendid Suns or Half a Yellow Sun and similar novels.

About this title

Review:

Harmattan is a captivating and beautifully written debut novel. Gavin Weston's unique and distinctive style hails a new era in Northern Irish literature. --Kellie Chambers, Ulster Tatler

Harmattan is just the novel that all readers need right now. --Glenn Patterson

About the Author:

Gavin Weston is an artist and designer from Ireland and a former aid worker in West Africa. Harmattan is based both on his first-hand experiences of Niger and its people and his continued involvement as an aid sponsor.

About this edition

• Publisher: Myrmidon Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1905802757
• ISBN 13: 9781905802753
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576