River Spirit by Leila Aboulela
In River Spirit, the Sudanese author, Leila Aboulela, fills our mind’s eye with vivid scenes of a pivotal moment in Sudan’s history. From a long distance, she portrays the defeat of Governor Gordon and the British occupation.
Our most frequent witness is Akuany, renamed Zamzam after being enslaved. Her early life was fun, secure in her father’s love. But conflict threw her into the life of another family. She became infatuated, perhaps in love, with the youngest son; Yaseen postponed her future while he went to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo. During the prolonged absence, his relatives sold Akuany, pushing her into the household of a senior politician.
She was further manipulated into attending the bachelor household of Robert, a Glasgow painter. He was in Sudan with a British mission, trying to escape the memories of a fire that killed his wife and destroyed his portfolio, erasing both his emotional and financial security. ZamZam (Akuany) and neighbours, were indignant about his paintings that exposed honourable local women. A Victorian, Robert was oblivious, regarding everything as exotic rather than real.
Yaseen returned to his home in Al-Ubayyid as a devout Islamic scholar. He succeeded in obtaining a senior religious post, and as expected, he married properly. Significantly, he gave his first son a “Turkish” name, evidence of Yaseen’s loyalty to the Turkish-British alliance that ruled Sudan. His devotion was a pillar in the conquest by the Mahdi of Sudan, particularly the capital Khartoum.
The Mahdi of the late nineteenth century was the self-proclaimed “Expected Redeemer”, described by the Prophet Mohammed. Through his charisma, he assembled a massive people’s army loyal to himself and the vision of a liberated future. Indeed, he did liberate Sudan, overthrowing the proud General Gordon, who futilely waited for supporting British troops. The entire scandal of the loss of Sudan was a huge political issue in Britain.
But this story is told from the Sudanese perspective, itself a tangle of faith, divided loyalties, pragmatism, and hubris. The characters try to adhere to their traditional wisdoms while adapting to perilous circumstances.
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