Elsewhere, Home

by Leila Aboulela Narrated by Various Narrators, Shiromi Arserio, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Michael David Axtell, Nathan Hinton, Robin Miles, Vaneh Assadourian

Overview

In her new collection of stories, award-winning New York Times Notable author Leila Aboulela offers us a rich tableau of life as an immigrant abroad, and the challenges of navigating assimilation and difference. Elsewhere, Home draws us ineluctably into the lives of her characters as they forge new identities and reshape old ones.

A young woman's encounter with a former classmate elicits painful reminders of her former life in Khartoum. A wealthy Sudanese student studying in Aberdeen begins an unlikely friendship with a Scottish man. A woman experiences an evolving relationship to her favorite writer, whose portrait of their shared culture both reflects and conflicts with her own sense of identity.

Shuttling between the dusty, sunbaked streets of Khartoum and the university halls and cramped apartments of Aberdeen and London, Elsewhere, Home explores, with subtlety and restraint, the profound feelings of yearning, loss, and alienation that come with leaving one's homeland in pursuit of a different life.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Elsewhere, Home

Winner of the 2018 Saltire Literary Award

“If literary realism attempts to hold a mirror to the world, Leila Aboulela’s Elsewhere, Home is an especially vivid reflection . . . Hers is the first collection I’ve read since James Joyce’s Dubliners that reminded me of the life-changing power of furiously honest realism.”—New York Times Book Review

“From the title on, Leila Aboulela's sixth book asks readers to consider what it means to have a home, to leave a home behind, and to make a new one. . . . Aboulela excels at giving equal weight not only to the high-stakes drama of cultural differences, but also more focused concepts, like a schoolgirl's nearsightedness in "Farida's Eyes," or a restaurant worker's inability to cook rice . . . In the details, we see that these themes aren't about being Sudanese or British specifically, but the simultaneous sense of belonging and alienation familiar to us all.”—BookBrowse

“[B]eautiful and full of easy dialog and insight . . . Though she tackles many heavier, broader themes in her writing, Aboulela excels most at portraying the nuances of day-to-day life and the pains of missing and returning home.”—Bustle

“Connected by a consistent authenticity, these stories display a virtuosity in building on the most relatable emotional hooks: prewedding nerves, pregnancy stress, or economic anxiety. Aboulela’s remarkable collection offers a strong and sympathetic illumination of the social and spiritual price that migration demands even when it does deliver on an economic promise.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Each story is earnest, engrossing, holding surprising depth for tales so compact. Aboulela confronts and dissects Western and African stereotypes of Islam, Muslims, and immigrants, and beautifully renders the more universal challenge of cultural homelessness."—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

“A yearning for home tugs at the souls of Aboulela’s characters in this beautiful and desolate collection…There is so much quiet brilliance [here]."—Guardian

“A lovely collection of short stories about love, loneliness and spirituality.”—Nadiya Hussein, Good Housekeeping

“Elsewhere, Home is a rich and poignant reflection of a Britain built as ever from multiple perspectives and starting points…These beautifully focused tales of Khartoum, Edinburgh, London, Cairo and beyond are a delight.”—A.L. Kennedy

“[Aboulela] is one of the best short story writers alive. Publishing her at Granta Magazine and Freeman’s has been one of the highlights of my life as an editor.”—John Freeman

"Exquisite fiction. There are gems here, elegantly cut, polished and framed. Luminous.”—Fadia Faqir

“Full of elegance, tenderness and the small vulnerabilities that make up our lives.”—Roma Tearne

Praise for The Kindness of Enemies

“Aboulela has written a book for grownups…that speaks more forcefully than a thousand opinion pieces…timeless.”—Anthony Marra, San Francisco Chronicle

“An absorbing novel…reminds us of the complexity of the web woven by those threads of faith, nationality, politics and history.”—New York Times Book Review

“A rich, multilayered story…compelling.”—The Washington Post

“Radiant with historical detail and vivid descriptions…an invitation to see identity as more variegated than the either/or distillations of the Global War on Terror.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177499895
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	02/25/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Her country disturbed him. It reminded him of the first time he had held a human bone, the touching simplicity of it, the strength. Such was the landscape of Khartoum; bone-coloured sky, a purity in the desert air, bareness. A bit austere and therefore static. But he was driven by feelings, that was why he was here, that was why he had crossed boundaries and seas, and now walked through a blaze of hot air from the airplane steps to the terminal. She was waiting for him outside the airport, wearing national dress, a pale orange to be that made her appear even more slender than she was. I mustn’t kiss you. No, she laughed, you mustn’t. He had forgotten how vibrant she was, how happy she made him feel. She talked, asked him questions. Did you have a good trip, are you hungry, did all your luggage arrive, were they nice to you in customs, I missed you too. There was a catch in her voice when she said that; in spite of her confidence she was shy. Come, come and meet my brother. They began to walk across a car park that was disorganised and dusty, the sun gleaming on the cars.

Her brother was leaning against a dilapidated Toyota. He was lanky with a hard-done-by expression. He looked irritated. Perhaps by the conflicting desire to get his sister off his hands and his misgivings about her marrying a foreigner. How did he see him now, through those narrow eyes, how did he judge him?

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