Gravel Heart

At the core of this novel by Gurnah (By the Sea and Paradise) is a family secret that young Salim must discover in order to be at peace with himself. Every afternoon, his mother asks him to take a basket of food to his father, who lives as an impoverished recluse in a shopkeeper's back room a short distance away and mutters only a word of thanks for the meal. Salim's mother refuses to answer her son's questions about this family situation. Years later, Salim attends university in London, eventually returning home to Zanzibar and visiting his father in the same hovel where he last saw him. Over the course of several days, Salim's father finally confides to his son the dark secret that keeps him estranged from his wife and children. Without sentimentality, the author imparts an affecting story of isolation, the search for identity, and loneliness at home, as well as in the large, hostile capital of a foreign nation where Salim is clearly not wanted.