Samia's review
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
I picked up this book up after reading the back cover and thought that the story looked interesting--a young British girl raised by Sufis in Morocco, who travels to Ethiopia and teaches the Qur'an to young children. The story jumps back and forth from the main character's life in England to her past in Ethiopia. The story started out slow and I even stopped reading about mid-way through and didn't continue reading it for a few months. But when I re-opened the book, I discovered the brilliance of the story. The novel is heart-wrenching, teaches important lessons about identity, patriotism & revolution, the rich culture of Ethiopia, and at the same time, the desperation of Ethiopia. Moreover, Gibb's prose is elegant and flows beautifully throughout the novel.
