# Gifts (1992) by Nuruddin Farah: a Mogadishu nurse, a foundling and the politics of aid

> Nuruddin Farah's Gifts (1992): its story of Duniya and Bosaaso, the theme of foreign aid, its place in the Blood in the Sun trilogy, its awards and reviews.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/gifts-farah/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The book

**Gifts** is a novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, the Somali writer born in Baidoa in 1945. It was first published in 1992; the British edition was published by Serif in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) in 1993, and the American edition by Arcade in 1999 ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)). It has been translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese ([RCW Literary Agency](https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/gifts)).

## The story

**Duniya** is a nurse at a maternity hospital in Mogadishu. Nearly 35, widowed and raising three children, she is pitied by other nurses as a woman whose youth is behind her. When she was young, her dying father asked his friend **Zubair**, an old blind man, to marry her; she could not refuse, and the marriage produced twins before he died ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/9781559704847)).

Her settled life is unbalanced when she accepts a lift from **Bosaaso**, a widower and family friend whom she meets at the hospital, and when her daughter brings home a foundling baby. Bosaaso becomes a loyal friend, and their relationship helps her through a series of misfortunes ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/9781559704847); [RCW Literary Agency](https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/gifts)).

Around this private story the novel shows a hospital strained by war, drought, disease and famine, and tensions around foreign relief aid. It mixes dreams, memories, family stories, folktales and newspaper reports ([RCW Literary Agency](https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/gifts)). Aid to Somalia is covered on [Aid and humanitarian funding](/en/economy/aid-and-humanitarian-funding/).

## The trilogy

*Gifts* is the second novel of the **Blood in the Sun** trilogy, between *Maps* (1986) and *Secrets* (1998) ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/)).

## How it was received

- It won the Best Novel Award in Zimbabwe in 1993, and its French edition won the award of the St Malo literature festival in 1998 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)).
- Kirkus Reviews called Duniya "a lovely character" and the book "the most immediately accessible panel" of the trilogy ([Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/gifts/)).
- Publishers Weekly praised Duniya's "strength and courage" and called the novel a "remarkable portrait of unquenchable humanity in a beleaguered people" ([Publishers Weekly](https://publishersweekly.com/9781559704847)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/giftsnovel0000fara)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Gifts+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Maps (1986), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/maps-farah/)
- [Secrets (1998), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/secrets-farah/)
- [Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/sweet-and-sour-milk-farah/)

---
I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.