‘Theft’ by Abdulrazak Gurnah: Above all, look after yourself

The 2021 Nobel Prize winner, Abdulrazak Gurnah’s 11th novel, Theft, was published in March. To pay homage, my friend and I picked it up, drawn by its setting, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

Theft follows three young friends, Karim, Fauzia, and Badar, from different backgrounds but somehow brought together as they navigate life and try to find their place in the world.

Karim, intelligent, quiet, and kind, is born in Zanzibar to a young mother, Raya, and a middle-aged father, Bakari. Karim’s childhood is stolen when his mother decides to escape a bad marriage, one in which her sole purpose is to attend to her husband's whims despite his lack of regard for her feelings along the way. Forced by her manipulative father to marry at 18, Raya sees her son as a reminder of the hardship she endured.

As is often the case with many abusers, Raya’s husband was no exception. He was kind in public but a completely different person behind closed doors. “He reserved his cruelty for her, and he took pleasure in it.”

Having experienced this kind of relationship, Karim wonders why people choose to have children when they know they can never make them feel loved. He vowed to be a different kind of parent, one whose children felt loved and seen. But, as always, it’s easier said than done. Will Karim live by his words when the time comes?

Left in the care of his grandparents, Karim’s hope for the future is shattered when the only lifeline he had, his grandmother, passes away suddenly. His half-brother, Ali, from his father’s first marriage, comes to his rescue. Ali and his wife take Karim in and encourage him to pursue his brilliance by attending university in Dar es Salaam.

Badar, on the other hand, is rejected by the man he had grown up believing was his father shortly after his mother's death. Raised by his mother’s relatives, who openly resent him, Badar’s life is marked by neglect and emotional abuse. Eventually, the man takes him to Dar es Salaam and leaves him with a wealthy family without explanation.

As fate would have it, this is the home of Raya and her second husband, Haji. It is here that the two friends, Karim and Badar, meet during one of Karim’s visits to his mother. Karim is curious about Badar. Why is he there and not in school? It turns out there’s a reason. A reason that no one, not even the people who should have thought he deserved to know.

When Uncle Othman, Haji's father, accuses Badar of something awful, he won’t listen to reason. He wants Badar out of the house immediately. Luckily, Karim is visiting his mother that day, and he decides to take Badar back with him to Zanzibar, where he is just starting a new life with his wife, Fauzia.

Gurnah uses Karim’s gesture to demonstrate the need to pay kindness forward, to offer support when someone needs it most. Just as Ali and his wife took him in when no one else would, he now does the same for Badar.

“Karim was helping him out of generosity rather than obligation. Badar was grateful. He was discreet, ready to help whenever he was asked or even without being asked."

Parenthood can shake even the most loving couples, especially those in love with the idea, not the reality. Fauzia and Karim are in love, happy and content with each other. Like many well-meaning couples, they discuss having children. They’re ready, or maybe one of them is more ready than the other.

When their daughter, Nasra, finally arrives, the reality of parenting sets in. The weight of responsibility falls on the mother. A mother who is afraid of passing on her illness. One who watches her husband slowly drift away. Gurnah does not shy away from showing how women can succumb to postpartum depression when the support they need is absent.

Throughout the book, Gurnah attempts to give women the agency they are often denied, as seen in the cases of Raya’s mother and Ali’s mother. But we see Raya eventually choosing herself, and in doing so, her relationship with Karim begins to heal. She finds joy. Hawa, Fauzia’s closest friend, is portrayed as a strong, independent woman who knows exactly what she wants.

Theft is a slow burn, maybe too slow at times, but its poetic writing keeps you going. The climax may take its time, but it’s worth the wait. Readers will be immersed in Zanzibar and learn about how tourists are perceived by locals, such as Khadija, Fauzia’s mother.

At its heart, Theft is a story about friendship, love, belonging, betrayal, and parenthood. The occasional Swahili makes East African readers feel right at home.

Jane Shussa is passionate about books, coffee, nature, and travel. She serves as a Senior Digital Communications Officer for Twaweza East Africa.