Aicha

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut from Soraya Bouazzaoui. Her descriptions were evocative without being flowery. She knows waffle when she sees it – IYKYK.

I have been anticipating this book since it was announced – I’ve been a fan of Bouazzaoui for a long time and love her perspective on post-colonial politics. I love myth retellings, especially myths featuring djinn and djinn-like beings, so I have been foaming at the mouth since Aicha was announced. I was so excited for her to take on a Moroccan myth retelling. I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on anti-colonial literature in Algeria and have always wanted to discover more about other literary traditions across the Maghreb.

I also have not read very much literary fiction on the subject of Portuguese colonialism, or anything regarding this area of time period in general. I have mostly engaged with the expansionist Portuguese Empire in Angola in the 20th century, so this aspect was new to me.

Aicha’s personality was very compelling. She is so flawed and I identify so much with parts of her. Her darkness from the folklore version of her made it into this book without blaming it entirely on some sort of curse a la Ella Enchanted.