The Desert and the Drum is the first novel ever to be translated into English from Mauritania. It won the Ahmadou-Kourouma Prize in 2016. Everything changes for Rayhana when foreigners with strange machines arrive to mine for metal near her Bedouin camp. One of them is the enigmatic Yahya. Rayhana's association with him leads to her abandoning all she knows and fleeing alone to the city. When her tribe discover she's stolen their sacred drum they pursue her to exact their revenge. Though Rayhana has her own missing person to seek. The Desert and the Drum tells of Rayhana's rift with her family, the disturbing characters she encounters in the metropolis, her attempts to separate friend from foe and to find a place for herself amidst the contradictions of contemporary Mauritania.

Author: Mbarek Ould Beyrouk
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Dedalus
Published: 08/01/2019
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.3lbs
Size: 7.80h x 4.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781910213797

About the Author
Beyrouk, Mbarek Ould: - Mbarek Ould Beyrouk (Beyrouk) was born in Atar, Mauritania, in 1957. A journalist, he founded the country's first ever independent newspaper, Mauritanie Demain, in 1988 and he is currently an advisor to the President of the Republic. He has written four books, including three novels: Et le ciel a oublié de pleuvoir (2006); Le Griot de l'émir, (2013) and The Desert and The Drum (Le Tambour des larmes, 2015).McGill, Rachael: - Rachael McGill is a playwright, novelist and translator. Her translations from French include many plays and one novel The Desert and The Drum by Mbarek Ould Beyrouk. Her novel Fair Trade Heroin will be published by Dedalus in 2020.