Book
Secrets (1998) by Nuruddin Farah: a family mystery on the eve of the civil war
Secrets is a 1998 novel by the Somali writer Nuruddin Farah, published by Arcade in New York. Set in Mogadishu in the days before the civil war, it follows Kalaman, a 33-year-old businessman, whose life is unsettled when Sholoongo, a woman from his childhood, returns from America and asks him to give her a child. It is the third novel of Farah's Blood in the Sun trilogy, after Maps and Gifts, and appeared the year he won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.
Secrets
- Author
- Nuruddin Farah
- Year
- 1998
- Publisher
- Arcade
- Language
- English
- Sources
- 7 sources
The book
Secrets is a novel by Nuruddin Farah, the Somali writer born in Baidoa in 1945. It was published by Arcade in New York on 1 May 1998 (Kirkus Reviews). The same year Farah received the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (Wikipedia).
The story
The novel is set in Mogadishu in the week before the outbreak of the civil war, and opens with scenes from about twenty-five years earlier in a village (Kirkus Reviews; Publishers Weekly).
Its central character is Kalaman, who at 33 owns a computer company and is reluctant to marry his girlfriend and start a family. He was raised with close care by his grandfather, Nonno, while his widowed mother, Damac, urges him to marry. His life is unsettled when Sholoongo, an older girl who was his companion and tormentor in childhood, returns from America, where she has become known as a "shape-shifter" with magical powers, and asks Kalaman to father her child (Kirkus Reviews).
Her return brings long-hidden family secrets to the surface, among them a stolen birth certificate and a secret marriage, which are revealed in later chapters narrated by Nonno, Damac and Sholoongo. Kalaman is forced to see how closely private and political life are bound together. The novel includes animal fables, riddles and parables (Kirkus Reviews). One publisher description calls it a portrait of a family breaking apart like its country, its ties dissolved by exposed lies (Publishers Weekly). The background is on The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991.
The trilogy
Secrets is the third novel of Farah's Blood in the Sun trilogy, following Maps (1986) and Gifts (1992). (Kirkus Reviews).
How it was received
- Kirkus Reviews called it "an enthralling psychodrama" and "a genuine—and genuinely disturbing—mystery" (Kirkus Reviews).
- On NPR, the critic Alan Cheuse described its characters as well drawn and the novel as a witty comedy of manners (NPR).
Where to read it
- Editions: Open Library
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- Kirkus Reviews · kirkusreviews.com
- Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Publishers Weekly · publishersweekly.com
- Kirkus Reviews · kirkusreviews.com
- NPR · npr.org
- Open Library · openlibrary.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.
- Gifts (1992) by Nuruddin Farah: a Mogadishu nurse, a foundling and the politics of aidNuruddin 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.
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