I can highly recommend this book not only for the quality of the writing, but the raw honesty of the narrator, a street boy who becomes embroiled in a struggle between moderate and radical Islam in Northern Nigeria.
Dantala is one of a gang of feral boys surviving on the proceeds of petty crime and handouts by corrupt politicians in exchange for intimidation, arson and worse: ‘We file past the truck to get our two hundred naira notes and fuel and matches and machetes.’
He is eventually forced to go on the run when he and his gang kill a security guard, and he takes refuge in a mosque, where he becomes assistant to the moderate Sheikh Jamal, whose authority is constantly threatened by the radical and charismatic Islamic convert Malam Abdul-Nur.
Dantala’s willingness to share with us his every unworthy thought and action makes him a highly engaging narrator, particularly when he details his struggles with his growing sexual awareness, a heavy burden in such a repressive atmosphere, which makes for painful and sometimes very funny reading.
His emerging friendship with Malam Abdul-Nur’s younger brother, Jibril, is beautifully described, and so is his relationship with his mentor, Sheikh Jamal, a humane and compassionate man who tries to quell growing radicalism with rational argument (you can probably guess how that pans out).
Dantala not only becomes entangled in the politics of the mosque, but he is also complicit in the forbidden love affair between Jibril and Malam Abdul-Nur’s wife. This is a tense and beautifully written book, with a wonderful sense of place, and it provides a rare glimpse into a closed world. I gave it 5 stars on Amazon.
I’d love to hear from anyone who’s read the book.
