An epic for an era of migrants, border-crossings, and traumatic conflicts, Beyond Babylon takes us deep into the lives of people swept up in history. Telling the engrossing stories of two half-sisters who meet coincidentally in Tunisia, their mothers, and the elusive father who ties them all together, Igiaba Scego’s virtuosic novel spreads thickly over Argentina’s horrific dirty war, the chaotic final years of Siad Barre’s brutal dictatorship in Somalia—which ended in catastrophic civil war—and the modern-day excesses of Italy’s right-wing politics.
Offering a visionary new perspective on political upheaval and identity in the 21st century, Beyond Babylon’s kaleidoscopic plot investigates the ways in which we make ourselves. Its myriad characters, locations, and languages redefine our sense of citizenship for a fast-changing world of migrants and demagogues, all anchored by five poignant individuals fighting to overcome memories of past violations. A masterwork equally as adept with the lives of nations as those of human beings, Beyond Babylon brings much-needed insight, compassion, and understanding to our turbulent world.
About the author
Igiaba Scego, born in Rome in 1974 to a family of Somali origins, is a writer and journalist. She is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, and her memoir
La mia casa è dove sono won Italy’s prestigious Mondello Prize. She is a frequent contributor to the magazine
Internazionale and the supplement to
La Repubblica, Il Venerdì di Repubblica. Jhumpa Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for
Interpreter of Maladies, her debut story collection. She is also the author of
The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, and
The Lowland, a finalist for both the Man Booker prize and the National Book Award in fiction. Aaron Robertson has written for various publications including
The New York Times, The Nation, n+1, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and more, and he is currently an editor at
Literary Hub. He won a 2018 PEN/Heim grant for his translation of Igiaba Scego’s
Beyond Babylon.
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