Harmattan
SynopsisPlot
Spirited, independent, and intelligent, Haoua has benefited from a stable home life and a loving and attentive mother. She enjoys working and playing with her siblings and friends, and she worships her elder brother, Abdelkrim, a serving soldier who sends money home to support the family. But, on his last home visit, Abdelkrim quarrels with their father, accusing him of gambling away the money he sends and of being the cause of their mother's worsening health. It also emerges that their father plans to take a second wife. Despite this Haoua finds contentment in her schoolwork, her dreams of becoming a teacher, and in writing assiduously to the family in Ireland who act as her aid sponsors. But for Haoua, there are new storm clouds on the horizon. As civil strife mounts in Niger, Haoua begins to fear for Abdelkrim's safety. Haoua's mother's illness is much more serious and further advanced than anyone had recognized, and her father's plans are turning out to be far more threatening than she could have ever imagined. Approaching her 12th birthday, Haoua is alone and vulnerable for the first time in her life.
Story
About this book
Haoua is a sharp, spirited girl growing up in a remote village in the Republic of Niger. She lives with her siblings and parents, attends school with ambitions of becoming a teacher, and writes faithfully to a family in Ireland who act as her aid sponsors. She adores her elder brother Abdelkrim, a soldier whose wages help support the household. Her world feels steady, shaped by friendship, schoolwork, and the rhythms of village life.
That stability begins to fracture during one of Abdelkrim's visits home. He confronts their father over gambling away the money sent to the family and over their mother's declining health. It also becomes clear that their father intends to take a second wife. As civil unrest spreads across Niger, Haoua grows increasingly worried about her brother's safety. Her mother's illness turns out to be far more advanced than anyone had understood, and her father's plans carry consequences she had not foreseen.
Gawin Weston sets the story against the harmattan, the dry, dust-laden wind that blows south from the Sahara across West Africa for months each year. Approaching her twelfth birthday, Haoua faces a period in which the supports around her fall away one by one, leaving her exposed and alone for the first time.
