# Sweet and Sour Milk (1979) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of Mogadishu under dictatorship

> Nuruddin 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.

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Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## The book

**Sweet and Sour Milk** is a novel by **[Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)**, who was born in Baidoa in 1945 and won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)). It was first published in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) by Allison & Busby in November 1979, and was later reissued in the United States by Graywolf Press ([Fantastic Fiction](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/nuruddin-farah/sweet-and-sour-milk.htm); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781555971595)). It was his third novel, after *From a Crooked Rib* (1970) and *[A Naked Needle](/en/books/a-naked-needle-farah/)* (1976).

## The story

The novel is set in and around Mogadishu in 1975, during the military government of [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). Soyaan, a government employee, falls ill and dies in the first chapter. His twin brother **Loyaan**, a dentist, realises how little he knew of his brother's life and sets out to find why he died. The family refuses a post-mortem, and Loyaan learns that Soyaan had secretly written against the government. After his death the government publicly praises Soyaan, names a street after him and says his last words were "Labour is Honour", while Loyaan learns that his brother's final words were his own name, repeated three times. Their father, **Keynaan**, who had lost his post in the security services, appears to use his son's death to win it back ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/?p=6007); [Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781555971595)). The history of the period is on [The Siad Barre era, 1969 to 1991](/en/history/siad-barre-era-1969-1991/).

## The trilogy

*Sweet and Sour Milk* is the first novel of Farah's trilogy **Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship**. The other two are *Sardines* (1981) and *Close Sesame* (1983). The three novels are linked by setting and by the political group to which Soyaan belonged ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah)). Farah wrote all three in exile. He had been warned not to return to Somalia after *A Naked Needle* was published in 1976, and he did not go back until 1996 ([Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/farah-nuruddin)).

## How it was received

- The novel won the **English-Speaking Union Literary Award** in 1980 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuruddin_Farah); [AbeBooks](https://www-origin.abebooks.com/9781555971595/Sweet-Sour-Milk-Farah-Nuruddin-1555971598/plp)).
- Publishers Weekly, reviewing the Graywolf edition, called it "the elegantly crafted tale of a man's investigation of his revolutionary twin's mysterious death" ([Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781555971595)).

## Where to read it

- Editions: [Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18697W)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Sweet+and+Sour+Milk+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Maps (1986), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/maps-farah/)
- [From a Crooked Rib (1970), Nuruddin Farah](/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)

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