This is Mohamed’s first novel and she set to writing it with great purpose. British Somalis have been underrepresented for decades and while other minority groups in the UK have fought to be heard and seen in positive ways, Somalis are too often still painted as violent immigrants who refuse to integrate. Mohamed wanted to challenge this perception by telling and expanding her fathers experiences as a young Somali man, both across Africa and in Britain.
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The story of Jama opens in 1930s Aden, a city in Yemen where Jama and his mother live in poverty. Jama’s father has left to seek his fortune as a ‘ferengi driver’, chauffeuring white foreigners and their goods around Sudan. As a boy Jama is burdened with huge promise by the tale his mother tells of a Black Mamba snake that visited her during her pregnancy and blessed the unborn Jama. Not feeling that he can live up to such promise and raging against his father’s absence, Jama spends his days running round the city with market boys, trying to steal what little food they can to survive. Eventually, Jama leaves Yemen himself and begins a journey to find his lost father. This ensues a geographical and historical tour of the Red Sea coast as Jama, over a decade ravaged by war, makes his way slowly North through Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt. The people he meets along the way leave lasting imprints on his life and by the end of the novel he looks back on these encounters and experiences in order to decide what kind of man he wants to be.
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Mohamed’s writing is lyrical and her intricate descriptions bring life to scenes that might at first seem barren. This is a powerful story of identity and brings light to the darkness of life as a refugee. Jama’s story is a reminder that for so many Home is somewhere that has been taken from you. Those of us who have never had to flee our homes too often take that for granted. The phrase ‘home is where the heart is’ is useless when, for your entire life, people have endeavoured to eliminate everything you hold dear. When you have nothing of your heart left, where is home?