Goat Mountain

by Habib Selmi

In Goat Mountain, Habib Selmi's first novel, published in Arabic in 1988, a young man's journey begins in a dilapidated old bus that takes four hours to reach Al-'Ala, from where he takes a long ride on mule back, accompanied by a mysterious older man who is to play an important part in the young man s new life. They finally arrive at Goat Mountain, a forlorn, Tunisian desert village. The school is a single room. The youth passes the first night in the house of his uncommunicative guide, whose name is Ismail . . . He grows more uneasy and depressed as Ismail becomes ever more powerful until, with a new truck and his own private army, Ismail dominates village life and casts a menacing shadow over the young man.

Genres: Tunisia

92 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2020

About the author

Habib Selmi (Tunisian Arabic: حبيب السالمي) (born 1951) is a Tunisian novelist and short story writer. He was born in Al-Ala near the historic city of Kairouan. To date, he has published eight novels and two short story collections.
Selmi's novel The Scents of Marie-Claire was shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize. His work has been translated into a number of languages, including English and French, and has featured in multiple issues of Banipal magazine.

Selmi has lived in Paris since 1985 where he teaches Arabic literature.

Reviews

[Amanda]

A young man taking up a teaching position in a remote village enters into an antagonistic relationship with the village magistrate. Moody, atmospheric, and with a heady air of the gothic, this is a strange novella, but an excellent read.