The Dragonfly Sea

February 1, 2019
A magisterial novel about life amid East Africa's tumultuous cultural and political ferment in the shadow of the American war on terror.Owuor (Dust, 2014) returns with a sweeping story of lives that intersect on Pate, an island off the coast of Kenya. The island is a palimpsest, a place where people come to forget or rewrite their life stories, and Owuor introduces us to a vivid set of characters who all want to begin their lives again in the island's embrace. We first meet Munira, the daughter of a wealthy business family that tries to marry her off to "an austere scholar" after she becomes pregnant with an unknown man's child. The incident proves ignominious for her family, and soon Munira is left alone on Pate with her irrepressible daughter, Ayaana. The duo lives a quiet life until the sudden arrival of Muhidin, an avowed infidel who long ago abandoned Pate for the life of a sailor. "Between religion and my black skin there shall be a sky's distance until the day I hear the Call to Atonement," he promised upon leaving the island. In his old age, though, he begins to fixate on his home: "Pate," he ruminates. "A phantom-calling invocation. Memories crawled over Muhidin like arachnids sneaking out of forgotten crypts." He soon finds himself bound up in Munira's and Ayaana's lives, as the daughter sees in him the father she never knew, and Muhidin feels himself drawn into a paternal bond with her. Meanwhile, the island is beset by American troops--whom the locals refer to derisively as "the Terrorized"--who hope to combat terrorism by cultivating the islanders' hearts and minds. In the midst of the conflict, another stranger arrives: Ziriyab, a migrant fleeing military retribution after his brother participates in the bombing of a foreign navy ship. His appearance forever alters Munira, Ayaana, and Muhidin's motley family. For all the emphasis on contemporary geopolitics, however, Owuor has ultimately written a novel that is about everything the war on terror cannot register: the vastness, complexity, and richness of East Africa's cultural world. She represents it as a stunning mélange of Islamic and African cultural traditions that are woven together via the motif of the sea. Pate becomes the epicenter of an ethos and a people who move freely, sailing without regard for cultural and national borders. The novel features an enormous cast of vividly drawn characters, from Chinese businessmen to Wahhabi Islamic fundamentalists. Its heart, however, is the quartet of characters who motivate the novel's primary narrative. Rendered in language that is heart-rendingly lyrical (even if it does border on purple at times), Munira, Ayaana, Muhidin, and Ziriyab are unforgettable figures. Owuor's language is so lush, and her vision so vibrant, that by the time Ayaana emulates Muhidin and embarks upon her own sea journey, it doesn't much matter; the reader is likely sunken down into the pleasure of Owuor's sentences. To do so feels like sinking down into the intricacy of East Africa.A gorgeous novel of Africa's entanglement with the wider world.

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January 1, 2019
In her second novel, Owuor (Dust, 2014) brings to life a beautiful story of loss and compassion. On the island of Pate, off the coast of Kenya, young girl Ayaana is an outcast from the community and ignored by her scandalous mother. Exploring the beach each day in search of a father she has never known, Ayaana meets a sailor and fellow outcast, Muhidin. A love of the sea brings this unlikely pair together, and Muhidin becomes the father for which Ayaana has always longed. Readers follow Ayaana's journey into adulthood and through her tumultuous voyage off the island. But Pate is like a magnet for lost souls, and all who leave eventually make their way back home. This path is true for Ayaana, and she must face her tragic past before she is able to build her future. Elucidating her characters' emotions and struggles, Owuor takes readers to the core of each one and shows that even in the face of heartache and betrayal, there is always a path to redemption.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from March 1, 2019

In the 1400s, Chinese admiral Zheng He lost a fleet of ships to the Indian Ocean. Some sailors found safe harbor on Pate Island just off the coast of Kenya. From this fact, Owuor weaves elements of a haunting coming-of-age novel, a seductive romance, and a fascinating historical. Free-spirited Ayaana, child of single mother Munir, suffers bullying at school. Although she excels in class, it's the sea that offers solace. She's most at home among the mangroves, shipbuilders, and fishermen and eventually in the company of elder Muhidin, a lonely soul reborn as a father figure through Ayaana's love. Her mix of African skin and Asian eyes marks Ayaana as a "Descendant," a living symbol of the bonds between East and West and ultimately a recipient of a scholarship for study in China. On her travels, she will meet two men, the hypnotic ship captain Lai Jin and authoritative fellow student Koray Terzioglu, who will vie for her soul. Lyrical, luminous language evokes the beauty of Pate Island, the poetic muezzin's call, even the scent of rosewater that wafts from each page. VERDICT Caine Prize winner Owuor follows up her powerful debut, Dust, with a gentler but no less stunning novel of language, lineage, love, and family, those we're born into and those that we create.--Sally Bissell, formerly with Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2019

Religious extremists and dragonflies, a tsunami, and a journey to the Far East are among the many variables that make for a tumultuous coming-of-age for Ayaana, raised by her mother on the island of Pate off Kenya's coast. From Caine Prize winner Owuor, whose Dust was short-listed for the Folio Prize.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.