A riveting debut novel of fathers and daughters, and the conflict between duty and desire, set in rural Morocco and urban Cataluna
Najat El Hachmi was born in Morocco in 1979. At the age of eight, she emigrated to Catalonia, Spain with her family. Her novel The Last Patriarch won the prestigious Ramon Llull Prize in 2008. She has published one other book, an autobiographical work called I Too Am Catalan.
An exciting fictional take on politics and the family -- Melissa
Katsoulis * Sunday Telegraph 2010 Books Preview *
El Hachmi excels in her portrayal... never simplistic about
oppression... The Last Patriarch works on all its levels: a
document of the changes assailing modern Morocco; a story of the
suffering and success of migration; and a feminist diatribe on how
desire and courage can defeat patriarchal values. Najat El Hachmi's
narrative poise, humour and fresh, unrepressed language turn her
painful subject matter into a pleasure to read -- Michael Eaude *
Independent *
A lively depiction of family life in Morocco and Catalonia *
Stylist *
El Hachmi's searing Bildungsroman boldly mixes family and cultural
history, feminist polemic and satirical humour, and won Catalonia's
prestigious Ramon Llull prize... The undercurrent of menace in the
complicated relationship between father and daughter is leavened by
the buoyancy of the translation and El Hachmi's light,
conversational writing; the ending is truly transgressive --
Catherine Taylor * Guardian *
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