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There are currently 26 member reviews
for Ghost Season
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Rebecca R. (Western USA)
Riveting Historical Fiction
The interactions of the characters in this book are so interesting that it is easy to overlook the fact that GHOST SEASON is important historical fiction. The setting of Sudan is extremely ancient, and yet many people around the world are unfamiliar with its history – that South Sudan only became a separate country in 2011. Like so much of the African continent, the original people of Sudan were colonized and inequalities became entrenched. This history permeates the plot, and knowing a little about the turbulence of this area will help a reader to understand the fear when a burned corpse is discovered and the compound's female cook did not show up for work.
I immediately felt transported by this debut. In fact, the perfect adjective for GHOST SEASON is immersive since I felt like the swirling dust of this remote Sudanese border town was in my nose as I sensed the tension among filmmaker Dena and American map-making aid worker Alex. The relentless heat, made worse by climate change, seemed to contribute to the intensifying worries and rumors about the civil war. The wall around the NGO compound is clearly no match for any advancing soldiers, but the young interpreter, Mustafa, is more. wrapped up in his dreams of making a better life for himself and escaping extreme poverty.
For anyone who was interested and horrified by the events in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda, GHOST SEASON is a book for you.
I have been in a foreign country where the interpreter to make up for my limited ability to speak a local dialect was a twelve-year-old boy like Mustafa, and I have seen many cemeteries rigidly divided by religion. So perhaps this book appealed to me a little more than the average reader, but I urge anyone who is curious about the world to read this when it publishes in early January 2023.
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Laura D. (Newmarket, NH)
Debut Novel
I cannot believe this book is the author's debut novel! It was precisely written with character development that enabled me to understand and be empathetic to all the main characters. I thought the technique of introducing the characters in the first section, and the country, government, and tribes in the second section of the novel was very effective in providing the background and understanding of what was to come. This is a story of the tragedy of war, the hope of love and acceptance, and the universality of the human experience.
Thank you to BookBrowse and W.W. Norton & Company for the advance reading copy.
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Helia R. (Goodlettsville, TN)
Prediction: The movie rights to this potent novel will be snapped up very soon if they haven't been already
Set in a border town between northern and southern Sudan at the center of the looming civil war, this astounding debut is told by a cast of five incredibly well-crafted protagonists. At an NGO compound, Sudanese-American documentarian Dena is filming scenes from daily life, and her keen eye contributes to the cinematic quality -- reading this novel often feels like watching a powerful movie. We have time to get to know twelve-year-old Mustafa, the entrepreneurial houseboy; William, the affable translator who has fallen in love with Layla, the nomad cook; and impatient Alex, the white American sent to the region to create a map of the fast-changing landscape. Then all hell breaks loose, and what lives are not lost are forever reconfigured.
In addition to the many lessons to be learned about the geopolitical power structure of Sudan in 2002, the novel is at heart a love story about families forged and found.
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Susan U. (Waukesha, WI)
Ghost Season - great debut
This well written book takes us through the development of relationships between 5 people from very different walks of life and how they come together. They are together to make a film, draw maps and find a path to a better way of life. All of this takes place while juggling the violence of civil war, long held tribal differences and taboos, corruption, greed and poverty.
Love blooms. Friendships form and tragedy hangs in the background
An important novel that teaches us about a world few of us can understand. It's engrossing, wonderfully descriptive and timely. Absolutely recommend.
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Nancy L. (Staunton, VA)
Ghost Season
"Ghost Season" by Fatin Abbas is a love story for the ages. This is the story of a man and a woman who come from opposing cultures in civil war torn Sudan and defy the unwritten rules of their birth communities to wed. It's also the story of the horrors of a civil war where one can so easily be imprisoned or worse for his race, and where even a trip to the market for food can be deadly. "Ghost Season" is beautifully written with clear and colorful descriptions of the people of Southern Sudan as well as their land and culture. The characters are vivid and well drawn and a few of them will live with me for a long time. I will not soon forget this eloquent story.
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Julie Z. (Oak Park, IL)
Ghost Season
Abbas has written an excellent first novel. Following five characters that live at an NGO compound in South Sudan in 2001, the diverse group of people include those born in Sudan, an American map maker, and a Sudanese American filmmaker. As a civil war is coming closer to this small town of Saraaya, the native Sudanese are being moved from their small shacks while trying to eek out some sort of living. The characters are well drawn; their relationships becoming entwined while they try to sort out what is going on around them. I was truly invested in the outcome of this satisfying story.
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Melissa C. (Saint Johns, FL)
High Praise for Ghost Season
I became immersed in this book immediately and could not put it down. I was swept away by the compelling, varied, colorful, sometimes tortured cast of characters who are integrally connected by the war and political turmoil in the Sudan. A truly remarkable, unforgettable novel.
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