Fatin Abbas – författare

With supreme skill and reverence, capturing shards, stillness and chaos, Fatin Abbas delivers a novel that gallops close and parallel to current events in Sudan.A dynamic, beautifully orchestrated debut novel connecting five characters caught in the crosshairs of conflict on the Sudanese border.A mysterious burnt corpse appears one morning in Saraaya, a remote border town between northern and southern Sudan. For five strangers on an NGO compound, the discovery foreshadows trouble to come. South Sudanese translator William connects the corpse to the sudden disappearance of cook Layla, a northern nomad with whom he's fallen in love. Meanwhile, Sudanese American filmmaker Dena struggles to connect to her unfamiliar homeland, and white midwestern aid worker Alex finds his plans thwarted by a changing climate and looming civil war. Dancing between the adults is Mustafa, a clever, endearing twelve-year-old, whose schemes to rise out of poverty set off cataclysmic events on the compound.Amid the paradoxes of identity, art, humanitarian aid, and a territory riven by conflict, William, Layla, Dena, Alex, and Mustafa must forge bonds stronger than blood or identity. Weaving a sweeping history of the breakup of Sudan into the lives of these captivating characters, Fatin Abbas explores the porous and perilous nature of borders?whether they be national, ethnic, or religious?and the profound consequences for those who cross them. Ghost Season is a gripping, vivid debut that announces Abbas as a powerful new voice in fiction.

A beautifully dynamic novel which connects five characters caught in the crosshairs of conflict on the Sudanese border.A mysterious burnt corpse appears one morning in Saraaya, a remote border town between northern and southern Sudan. For five strangers on an NGO compound, this discovery foreshadows more trouble to come.Everyone has a different story. William, a South Sudanese translator, connects the corpse to the sudden disappearance of cook Layla, a nomad from the north with whom he's fallen in love. Amidst the chaos, Dena, a Sudanese-American filmmaker, struggles to find a connection with her homeland. There is Alex, a white aid worker from the American Midwest whose plans in the country are derailed by a rapidly changing climate and an impending civil war. And then there is Mustafa, a precocious twelve-year-old boy, whose plans to escape poverty set off a series of cataclysmic events on the compound.Living in a Sudan riven by conflict presents challenges for William, Layla, Dena, Alex and Mustafa. To overcome them, they must forge bonds stronger than the blood they don't share. Fatin Abbas weaves a story of Sudan's partition into the fabric of her characters identities while exploring the porous and perilous nature of borders. Ghost Season is a gripping, must-have debut that announces Abbas as a powerful new voice in fiction.

Saraaya, eine Stadt im umkämpften Zentrum des Sudans. Hier finden William und Layla zueinander – eine Liebe, die nicht sein darf, da sie aus verfeindeten Volksgruppen stammen. Doch das Grundstück der NGO, wo die beiden arbeiten, ist Freiraum und Schnittstelle verschiedener Welten. Hier lebt auch die Amerikanerin Dena, deren Eltern einst aus dem Sudan flohen, sie will ein Filmprojekt realisieren. Und Alex, ein Kartograf aus Cleveland, der sowohl an der geheimnisvollen Dena als auch am verwirrenden Schwemmland der Region verzweifelt, das sich allen westlichen Maßstäben entzieht. Dann erschüttert eine Leiche vor dem Tor der NGO das fragile Zusammenleben. Wer ist der Tote? Was hat es mit den näher kommenden Rebellen auf sich? Als wenig später Flüchtlinge bei der Organisation Schutz vor dem ausbrechenden Bürgerkrieg suchen und Waffen auf dem Gelände gefunden werden, droht die Lage zu eskalieren …Ein großer Roman über die Liebe in Zeiten des Krieges, Afrika und die Rolle des Westens. Fatin Abbas ist eine außergewöhnliche neue, internationale Stimme, die meisterhaft von unserer immer näher zusammenrückenden Welt erzählt und sie ganz neu erklärt.