Women in River Spirit are portrayed as resilient and assertive, navigating loss, displacement, and social restrictions while holding themselves, their families, and their communities together.
In River Spirit, Leila Aboulela brings 1880s Sudan to life through characters whose inner lives are shaped by faith, violence, and survival.
In this historical novel, we are introduced to life in Sudan through a young girl, Akuany, whose village is raided, leaving her and her brother, Bol, orphaned. The two are saved by Yaseen, a merchant who once did business with their father. Together, they escape across the river, enduring hunger and exhaustion, surviving with only brief moments of help from strangers they meet along the way.
Pain leaves Akuany disoriented, her grief too heavy for her age as she struggles to care for her younger brother.
“Akuany could not grieve for her father. She could not remember how he looked or sounded before the spear struck him. That was the most vivid memory she had of him now, horrific and evil. Everything before that faded.”
After weeks on the road, they reach Al-Ubayyid, a town where the merchant’s sister, Halima, lives with her family. The journey to Khartoum, where Yaseen lived, is too dangerous, and it is decided that Akuany and her brother should remain behind. They stay with Halima while Yaseen travels to Egypt to study.
Life under Turkish and Egyptian rule grows unbearable, pushing many to place their hopes in a saviour, the Expected Redeemer, the Mahdi.
Aboulela successfully demonstrates the Mahdist war, fought in resistance to Egyptian rule, through the perspectives of well-developed characters, each holding different beliefs about the Mahdi and what his promise means for their own lives. This approach allows readers to encounter history from multiple angles and to sit with its complexity, rather than being guided toward a single moral conclusion.
For some, the Mahdi represents renewal and belonging in a world that has never felt like their own. This is the case for Musa, a Mahdist willing to give everything for the cause, regardless of who he hurts. Having grown up in a household that never acknowledged his existence, Musa sees the Mahdi as a source of recognition and purpose. Even when he knows his actions are wrong, he carries them out. Through Musa, Aboulela shows how deeply the desire to belong shapes moral choices, and how religion can be used to justify injustices against those who do not share the same beliefs.
“I, long ago, accepted that I did not have much to offer him. But he told me that some delicate operations needed men like myself who were neither prominent nor in the public eye. He gave me the responsibility of leading raids through the Nuba mountains. These raids sometimes troubled me… I did what I was told.”
Women in River Spirit are portrayed as resilient and assertive. They are navigating loss, displacement, and social restrictions while holding themselves, their families, and their communities together. Through characters like Fatma, Yaseen’s mother, Aboulela presents women as practical and discerning, shaped by circumstance yet unafraid to take stands they believe are right for their families and themselves.
Salha, born into a well-off family, is portrayed as a confident woman able to express her views on life and religion. Her confidence is a result of the education her father afforded her. In adulthood, Salha helps other women understand that prayer and religious learning are not reserved for men alone; women, too, have the right to pray, learn, and engage with faith. I found this portrayal particularly striking, given the era in which the novel is set.
Akuany’s (later named Zamzam) womanhood is shaped by repeated disruption, loss, and vulnerability. Being sold from one master to another fractures the sense of stability she might have known, leaving her without protection. Every hardship deepens her isolation, forcing her to adapt quickly to survive. In moments of longing, she turns to the river, which offers her a sense of familiarity in a life defined by displacement. Through Akuany, Aboulela captures how womanhood, in such conditions, is less about choice than endurance.
Endurance does not erase longing. Akuany’s love for Yaseen is rooted in her childhood, when he was her father’s guest. She carries this love with her as her life is repeatedly disrupted, even as she understands that their different backgrounds make such a relationship unlikely. Aboulela presents this affection without idealising it, allowing it to coexist alongside hardship, restraint, and social limitations.
“They would build what already existed. Beginnings that did not have the chance to flourish were suppressed by circumstances, strangled but not killed.”
River Spirit brings together faith, history, and personal relationships to show how people endure under pressure. Aboulela’s writing is vivid, and her use of letters draws readers closer to the characters. While the narrative is richly layered, a fuller exploration of the Mahdi’s own perspective could have further deepened the story.
Jane Shussa is a digital communication specialist with a love for books, coffee, nature, and travel. She can be reached at [email protected].
