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Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood
Fatima Mernissi
Memoir, 1994
A memoir of growing up in a walled household in 1940s Fez amid nationalism and women's confinement.
Books set in Morocco
Four books by writers from Morocco, set there, that give a real sense of the place, starting with Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood and For Bread Alone.
About the literature of Morocco
For Bread Alone, Mohamed Choukri's raw memoir of hunger in 1940s Tangier and the Rif, is among the best-known books to come out of Morocco. Moroccan writers work mainly in Arabic and French, the latter a legacy of the French protectorate, which lasted from 1912 to 1956. Amazigh languages, which became official alongside Arabic in 2011, have a long oral tradition, and storytellers still draw crowds in Marrakech's Jemaa el-Fnaa square, which UNESCO recognises for its oral heritage.
Fatima Mernissi's Dreams of Trespass recalls girlhood in a walled household in 1940s Fez, as nationalism stirred outside. Mahi Binebine's Horses of God, translated from French, tells of boys from Casablanca's Sidi Moumen shantytown drawn towards the 2003 suicide bombings. Laila Lalami's Secret Son puts a Casablanca slum youth between Islamist politics and social class.
By writers from Morocco
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For Bread Alone
Mohamed Choukri
Memoir, 1973. Translated from Arabic by Paul Bowles
A raw memoir of hunger and survival in Rif villages, Tangier and Tetouan during the 1940s.
Horses of God
Mahi Binebine
Novel, 2010. Translated from French by Lulu Norman
Boys from the Sidi Moumen shantytown of Casablanca are drawn toward the 2003 suicide bombings.
Secret Son
Laila Lalami
Novel, 2009
A Casablanca slum youth is caught between Islamist politics and social class in contemporary Morocco.
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