Edo's Souls

by Stella Gaitano, Sawad Hussain (Translator)

Edo's Souls is a compelling, multi-generational epic that sees the three main characters trapped in a nation gripped by the terrors of civil war, forcing each one to confront their past selves, and to resolve what is most important to them - love, family, or country.

When a young Lucy-Eghino, who is coming of age in a 1970s village in southern Sudan, is beset by rumours of approaching violence, she has no choice but to flee - first to Juba, then northwards to Khartoum. Marco, a gentle young father, wages a daily battle to keep his family together while avoiding friction with any northerners. Peter, a soldier unsure of where his loyalties lie, is forced to carry out night raids searching for bands of rebels.

Genres: Sudan, Africa, Fiction, South Sudan, Historical Fiction, African Literature, Novels

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Anushree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edo's Souls by Stella Gaitano, translated by Sawad Hussain

This book, for me, is a prime example that sometimes even when you've read 80% of the book, you might not be able to judge it appropriately until you read till the end. The judgement may sometimes change throughout a book and can be vastly different from chapter to chapter, pov to pov.

I read this for @translatedgemsbookclub 's August read. It starts out with introduction of Maria-Edo, a Sudanese woman from a small village in South Sudan, and her fierce love for her dead children, her relationship with God fraught with the complexities of the life she lived. It then turns to Edo's only surviving child, Lucy-Eghino, and her husband Marco. The couple, fearing the violence that will be brought upon the village soon, decide to run for their lives towards Juba, and then further to the North, Khartoum. From there, we get to experience their lives with Peter and Theresa, a couple who becomes a huge part of the story. The book deals heavily with themes of patriotism, religion, migration, indigenous peoples, motherhood, feminism and family. It is a multi-pov book, that attempts to give us a holistic view of some situations and fairly succeeds in it. The translation is pretty accessible. Stella's strength of short stories reflects in how she forms narrative. My only grouse is not being able to catch the character povs till the middle of a chapter but one gets used to it after a few chapters. It packs a heavy punch, there are some beautifully poetic descriptions of memories and nostalgia, longish commentaries on military shortcomings and revolutionary ideas, and paints a fairly granular picture of a country ravaged by intense divisive politics.

Safe to say now I am intrigued to read more by Stella Gaitano and shall be looking forward to more of her works.

[Nina ( picturetalk321 ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting book of Sudan and South Sudan. I know little of Sudan but I do know it is currently embroiled in one of the worst humanitarian nightmares. This book is set at a time before the founding of South Sudan; it follows a young woman from a southern Christian Sudanese forested village to the Muslim city of Khartoum in dry land, at the confluence of the Blue and the White Niles. (I had to look all of this up.) Geography, politics, war, torture are woven into a story that centres on family, and it is astounding how these awful factors manage not to overwhelm the atmosphere. There is a touch of magical realism but not too much. The first chapters are told through the eyes of the villager, a girl really although soon married. The village may be Christian but it is mainly of traditional village beliefs, with spirits and rituals that are alien to the city dwellers among whom she finds herself later.

The pov then switches, swimming easily from person to person: husband, friend, cousin, moving from men to women. The focus is domestic against a wider background. Horrendous is the account of how one family's girls are mutilated, being held down and having their vulvas sewn shut. But even here there is hope and determination.

It is a pleasure now and again to read a novel that does not follow the dicta of how-to creative writing courses and books. It had its own rhythms and strangely hypnotic emotions.

Chosen for my quest to read a book from every country on earth: author from South Sudan who now lives in Germany with her family. How her heart must bleed. Translated by Sawad Hussain; I found her translation eminently readable. Cover art by Yasmeen Abdullah. First published in Arabic in 2018.

[Nicole Witen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect. I read this book as part of my personal Reading the World in Translation challenge, and I wanted to get a second book for South Sudan. While Gaitano sort of encompasses both North and South Sudan, I thought having a female perspective would give me further insight into South Sudan, and I was not disappointed.

The novel is set in the 70s to early 80s (more or less) and covers the rise of the movement for independence for South Sudan. The story is rich in culture and inter-cultural relationships. The story truly tries to recreate society without being trite. I learned more and more about Sudan as I read on.

The development of the characters and plot was engaging. The only thing I did not enjoy very much was the fact that each chapter had a different narrator who more or less picks up where the last character left off. Moreover, the format changes at Chapter 6. I don't know if that is a translation thing or it was written that way, but it was glaring shift. The story still worked out but it felt like the first five chapters were a different story.

I highly recommend.

[Tommie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel has two tonally distinct sections:

The first, centers on Maria-Edo, her daughter, and their community. It's written in a way that recalls Gabriel Garcia Marquez while being wholly it's own. Phenomenal.

The second, shifts POVs with each chapter, but doesn't develop all the characters well enough to make each of these as interesting as each other. It succeeds structurally- small bits of information blossom over time, but I missed the immersive world of the first two chapters.

The novel ends with the formation of the SPLM, and three very political characters (military officer, intelligence officer, and revolutionary) have certainly informed the whole book. But it's at it's best when it isn't offering up philsophical takes (the poor character of the eldest sister is mostly to be a mouthpiece), but rather watching the characters navigate through everday travails, particularly Lucy, by far the most vibrant and alive character of the whole set.

[Elizabeth White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really grew on me. I found the early part quite alienating, perhaps that was the author's intention. I am not a big fan of magical realism. As the book went on though, I was increasingly drawn into the story of the lives of all the characters living in Sudan in the 1970s at a time of political unrest. The author conjures this universe very well and makes you care about them. I learned a lot about Sudan/south sudan as well.

[Morayo]

I had like 1 hour 7 mins left according to kindle and I’m like I actually don’t care about it anymore.
We had bookclub on Sunday and it was a lovely chat. This is a sign that I must not attend bookclub if I haven’t finished and I plan to complete said book
The person who wrote this blurb did not read the book.

I did learn about the horror that is female genital mutation and for the love of God when will women get a break????

[Zaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5)

[Berna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very powerful and impressive read.

[Marc Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Video review https://youtu.be/EPV7Gc8ZiAU