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Mbarek Ould Beyrouk: Saara (Saaara)

The book consists of the stories three interconnected people. The first is Saara. She starts of with a gloomy picture of the city she lives in.The city had lost its way. The population was blind and bewildered the roads no longer certain where they led. . Spectres and jinns seem to be causing problems. It does not rain. Prices were going up. It soon becomes apparent that this is in part, a climate change novel.

Saara tells her story. Her father was brutal and her mother left when Saara was five, -abandoning both of her daughters born from rape. They stayed with him and, though he did not hit them , they were afraid of him. He had further wives. Only one was good to them but she left when he raised his hand to her. He later attacked Saara’s sister and Saara pushed him over. He was injured, did not fully recover and died soon after.

The father had had a shop which she reopens. Then one day she says the spectre came upon me . She was assaulted by a gang of boys from well-respected families. No-one would believe her. She closed the shop and soon after the sister left, never to return. She became friends with a woman who regularly invited her but the friend’s boyfriend preferred Saara, ruining that friendship.

The rich boyfriend spends money on her and when his family pull him away, she becomes a hostess. She is criticised but does not care and has few real friends. She was not really happy but carries on till she receives a letter from her mother, now dying and asking to see her.

Number Two is known as the Sheikh. His father had set up a Sufi community in the desert in a place called Louad and he, though still young, takes over when his father dies. They were joined by many people who were apprehensive about possible darker days to come. They were worried about the encroaching nearby city but he worked hard to resolve that. He marries though it is not a particularly happy marriage.

The children are educated but not in aformal school and the government tries to persuade them to have a former school. As their aim is to try and adapt to the modern world, they agree. However when the government wants to build a dam, it is a different matter.

Number Three is a beggar. We have briefly encountered him as he is a friend of Saara. He and his deaf mute mother arrive in the village. No-one knows where they came from. They beg. When his mother is injured, he pretends to be a deaf mute. He struggles and only Saara and Sam the Poet are really sympathetic. Another beggar, a girl who has a baby as a result of a rape, attaches herself to him but he tries to drive her away.

However the focus turns to Louad. Our sheikh is struggling with the dam issue and goes off to spend some time with the nomads in the hill. Saara turns up because, of course, her mother is there. Though the mother dies, Saara stays on for a while and the sheikh is clearly attracted to her.

The sheikh fears that the mayor is not just in favour of building the dam but wants to take the community’s land so that he and his friends can make some money from developing it.

The sheikh loves his mother but she is not too enthusiastic about the community and they argue about it. Inevitably the other main characters – Sam the Poet and the beggar – turn up. The beggar is not too impressed. The Sheikh is struggling. He spends some time with the nomads and then tries to negotiate a deal with the Prefect regarding the dam. Saara meanwhile, having lost her mother, now sets off to find her sister.

We see the conflicts of the three main characters, both internally and externally. Saara has a did difficult childhood with an abusive father and then losing her mother and sister. She becomes something of a party person but is clearly not too happy and does not really know what she wants to do with her life. Looking for first her mother and then sister do not help and nor does her close relationship with the Sheikh. She has friends but they do help her find her way and she remains something of a lost soul.

The Sheikh thinks he knows his path, despite.his not entirely happy relationship with his wife and his mother. He is tempted to stray when he meets Saara but is now too embroiled in the political struggle regarding the dam which looks likely to pull him from his religious path which had been so clear to him.

As for the beggar, he is seasonally devoted to his mother. However he has no path to follow and is not looking for one. He is angry with the world and finds no solace in Louad as many others do. The young beggar who attaches herself to him is spurned and while he remains on good terms wth Saara and Sam he remains unhappy with his lot.

With all three, as their story is told in first-person narration, we see both their external problems but also follow their internal conflicts, what they think, what they want and where it is going wrong. The story is enhanced by the background that Mbarek gives us – problems caused by climate change, political corruption, the lack of a democratic process and the entitlement of the rich, who can get away with anything, including violently assaulting both Saara and the beggar. Mbarek tells an excellent story but not one of hope.

Publishing history

First published in 2022 by Éditions Elyzad
First English translation in 2025 by Dedalus
Translated by Rachel MacGill