Laila Lalami Orden de los libros (cronológico)

Das Jahr 1527: Als der marokkanische Sklave, von seinem Besitzer Estebanico genannt, gemeinsam mit der spanischen Flotte in Florida ankommt, kann er nur staunen, mit welcher Selbstverständlichkeit sich seine spanischen Herren ein Land nehmen, das offensichtlich anderen gehört – und zwar nur, indem sie diese Tatsache aussprechen, ganz egal, ob die Eingeborenen dies nun hören oder nicht. Nach dieser ersten, vermeintlich einfachen Eroberung stehen der spanischen Flotte jedoch Krankheit, Widerstand und Hunger bevor – und nur vier der Männer schaffen es, das Abenteuer zu überleben und darüber zu berichten. Einer von ihnen ist Estebanico. Denn warum sollten die spanischen Herren die Einzigen sein, die berichten dürfen? Als freier Mann und rückblickend setzt sich Estebanico an seinen eigenen Bericht und schildert die Begebenheiten der legendären Narvaez-Expedition im Jahr 1527 so, wie sie waren – oder zumindest so, wie er sich daran erinnern kann.

In 1527 vertrekt ontdekkingsreiziger Pánfilo de Narváez met zeshonderd man en honderd paarden uit de haven van Andalusië met als doel het zuiden van de VS op te eisen voor de Spaanse kroon. Maar vanaf het moment dat de mannen van Narváez in Florida voet aan wal zetten, krijgen ze te kampen met zware tegenslagen: navigatiefouten, ziekte, honger en verzet van inheemse stammen. Nog geen jaar later zijn er nog maar vier mannen in leven: een Spaanse edelman, een jonge ontdekkingsreiziger, de schatmeester van de expeditie én diens tot slaaf gemaakte dienaar, die door de drie Spanjaarden Estebanico wordt genoemd. Dit is zijn verhaal. La Florida is het gefictionaliseerde reisverslag van de eerste zwarte ontdekkingsreiziger van Amerika; een Marokkaanse slaaf wiens getuigenis nooit is opgenomen in de officiële geschiedschrijving. 'Adembenemende roman over een van de eerste ontdekkingsreizen. Een heftige en veel vervalste geschiedenis die door Lalami op briljante wijze is herschreven.' Salman Rushdie

A New York Times Editors' Choice • Best Book of the Year: Time, NPR, Bookpage, L.A. Times What does it mean to be American? In this starkly illuminating and impassioned book, Pulitzer Prize­­–finalist Laila Lalami recounts her unlikely journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S. citizen, using it as a starting point for her exploration of American rights, liberties, and protections. "Sharp, bracingly clear essays."—Entertainment Weekly Tapping into history, politics, and literature, she elucidates how accidents of birth—such as national origin, race, and gender—that once determined the boundaries of Americanness still cast their shadows today. Lalami poignantly illustrates how white supremacy survives through adaptation and legislation, with the result that a caste system is maintained that keeps the modern equivalent of white male landowners at the top of the social hierarchy. Conditional citizens, she argues, are all the people with whom America embraces with one arm and pushes away with the other. Brilliantly argued and deeply personal, Conditional Citizens weaves together Lalami’s own experiences with explorations of the place of nonwhites in the broader American culture.

Finalist for the National Book Award 2019 An Observer, Literary Review and Time Book of the Year 'One of the most affecting novels I have read. Subtle, wise and full of humanity' The Times Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters, deeply divided by race, religion and class. As the characters tell their stories and the mystery unfolds, Driss's family is forced to confront its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies, and love, in all its messy and unpredictable forms, is born. 'A state-of-America family saga told as a slow-burn detective story' Observer 'Exceptionally rich' Sunday Times 'Confirms Lalami's reputation as one of our most sensitive interrogators, probing at the faultlines in family and the wider world' Financial Times

* Winner of the American Book Award * Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015 * A Finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * 'An absorbing story' SALMAN RUSHDIE 'Rich, vivid and gripping' GUARDIAN 'Feels at once historical and contemporary' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW In 1527, hundreds of settlers arrived on the coast of modern-day Florida and claimed the region for Spain. Within a year of navigational errors, disease, starvation and fierce resistance from indigenous tribes, only four survivors remained. Three were nobleman, whose stories found their way into the official record. The fourth was known only as Estebanico, a vibrant merchant from Barbary forced into slavery and a new name, reborn as the first African explorer of the Americas. This is his story: a journey across the great swathes of the New World, where would-be conquerors are transformed into humble servants, fearful outcasts into healers, and the silenced into storytellers.

In the spirit of "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," Lalami's powerful first novel explores the struggle for identity, the need for family, and the desperation that overtakes ordinary lives in a country divided by class, politics, and religion.

“A dream of a debut, by turns troubling and glorious, angry and wise.” —Junot Diaz Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits evokes the grit and enduring grace that is modern Morocco. As four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain, author Laila Lalami asks, What has driven them to risk their lives? And will the rewards prove to be worth the danger? There’s Murad, a gentle, unemployed man who’s been reduced to hustling tourists around Tangier; Halima, who’s fleeing her drunken husband and the slums of Casablanca; Aziz, who must leave behind his devoted wife in hope of securing work in Spain; and Faten, a student and religious fanatic whose faith is at odds with an influential man determined to destroy her future. Sensitively written with beauty and boldness, this is a gripping book about what propels people to risk their lives in search of a better future.