Book
Gifts (1992) by Nuruddin Farah: a Mogadishu nurse, a foundling and the politics of aid
Gifts is a novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, first published in 1992 and the second novel of his Blood in the Sun trilogy. It follows Duniya, a widowed nurse at a maternity hospital in Mogadishu who is raising three children, as she is drawn into a relationship with Bosaaso, a widower, and as her family takes in a foundling baby. Around their story the novel sets newspaper reports on drought, famine and foreign relief aid.
Gifts
- Author
- Nuruddin Farah
- Year
- 1992
- Publisher
- Serif (UK, 1993); Arcade (US, 1999)
- Language
- English
- Sources
- 6 sources
The book
Gifts is a novel by 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 in 1993, and the American edition by Arcade in 1999 (Kirkus Reviews; Wikipedia). It has been translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese (RCW Literary Agency).
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).
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; RCW Literary Agency).
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). Aid to Somalia is covered on 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).
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).
- Kirkus Reviews called Duniya "a lovely character" and the book "the most immediately accessible panel" of the trilogy (Kirkus Reviews).
- Publishers Weekly praised Duniya's "strength and courage" and called the novel a "remarkable portrait of unquenchable humanity in a beleaguered people" (Publishers Weekly).
Where to read it
- Lending copy: Internet Archive
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- Kirkus Reviews · kirkusreviews.com
- Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- RCW Literary Agency · rcwlitagency.com
- Publishers Weekly · publishersweekly.com
- Internet Archive · archive.org
- WorldCat · search.worldcat.org
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Where this matters
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
- Ethiopia (Somali refugees and the Somali Region)About 368,000 refugees from Somalia live in Ethiopia (Oct 2026): numbers since 1988, Dollo Ado, Jijiga, Addis Ababa's Bole Michael, the law and aid cuts.
- Finland (Somali diaspora)28,167 Somali speakers lived in Finland at the end of 2025, more than half in Helsinki. Numbers, history, work, leaders and ties home.
More by this author
- From a Crooked Rib (1970): Nuruddin Farah's first novelNuruddin Farah's From a Crooked Rib (1970): the story of Ebla, how it was written, the 1972 ban, how critics read it and its Somali translation Feedh Qalloocan.
- Maps (1986) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of the Ogaden warNuruddin Farah's Maps (1986): Askar, Misra and the Ogaden war, its unusual narrative voice, the Blood in the Sun trilogy and how critics have read it.
- Sweet and Sour Milk (1979) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of Mogadishu under dictatorshipNuruddin Farah's Sweet and Sour Milk (1979): its story of twin brothers in 1970s Mogadishu, its place in his dictatorship trilogy, its award and where to read it.
- Links (2003) by Nuruddin Farah: a return to Mogadishu in the years of conflictNuruddin Farah's Links (2003): its story of a return to Mogadishu in the 1990s, the Dante quotations that frame it, its trilogy, and how reviewers received it.
- Secrets (1998) by Nuruddin Farah: a family mystery on the eve of the civil warNuruddin Farah's Secrets (1998): its story of Kalaman, Sholoongo and his family on the eve of the war, its narrators, its trilogy and how reviewers read it.
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