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Leila Aboulela

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cairo, Egypt

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Member Since

January 2011

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Leila Aboulela grew up in Khartoum, Sudan where she attended the Khartoum American School and Sister School. She graduated from Khartoum University in 1985 with a degree in Economics and was awarded her Masters degree in statistics from the London School of Economics. She lived for many years in Aberdeen where she wrote most of her works while looking after her family; she currently lives and lectures in Abu Dhabi.

She was awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000 for her short story The Museum and her novel The Translator was nominated for the Orange Prize in 2002, and was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times in 2006.

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Leila Aboulela’s books

Average rating: 3.67 · 14,214 ratings · 2,261 reviews · 38 distinct works • Similar authors

	Minaret 3.59 avg rating — 3,075 ratings — published 2005 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Translator 3.57 avg rating — 2,317 ratings — published 1999 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lyrics Alley 3.79 avg rating — 1,540 ratings — published 2010 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	River Spirit 3.95 avg rating — 1,329 ratings — published 2023 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Kindness of Enemies 3.79 avg rating — 1,157 ratings — published 2015 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bird Summons 3.27 avg rating — 1,252 ratings — published 2019 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Elsewhere, Home 3.68 avg rating — 888 ratings — published 2018 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Coloured Lights 3.82 avg rating — 165 ratings — published 2005 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Museum 3.55 avg rating — 162 ratings — published 2002 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A New Year 3.81 avg rating — 74 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Bird Summons

by Leila Aboulela (Goodreads Author)

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Leila and 1 other person liked David's review of River Spirit: "This is an excellent novel, interesting and fun to read, but I'd like to recommend other reading about the same topic which is available free of charge in several places on the internet. I think that this reading will enrich understanding of River Sp" Read more of this review »
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Quotes by Leila Aboulela (?)

“All through life there were distinctions - toilets for men, toilets for women; clothes for men, clothes for women - then, at the end, the graves are identical.”
― Leila Aboulela, Minaret

tags: death, gender-equality, life

67 likes

“The Mercy of Allah is an Ocean, Our sins are a lump of clay clenched between the beak of a pigeon. The pigeon is perched on the branch of a tree at the edge of that ocean.It only has to open it's beak”
― Leila Aboulela, Minaret

tags: allah, bird, clay, leila, lyrics-alley, mercy, minaret, the-translater

31 likes

“Allah tests our patience and our fortitude. He tests out strength of faith. be patient and there will endless rewards for you, insha'Allah" - Utaz Badr”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

tags: faith, islam, spiritual

28 likes

See all Leila Aboulela's quotes »

Polls

What would you like to read for Sept/October's reads 2018 from Northern Africa

The Translator by Leila Aboulela

12 votes, 30.0%

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El-Saadawi

7 votes, 17.5%

This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun

6 votes, 15.0%

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

6 votes, 15.0%

The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers by Fouad Laroui

4 votes, 10.0%

Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra

4 votes, 10.0%

The Child of an Ancient People by Anouar Benmalek

1 vote, 2.5%

Distant View of a Minaret and Other Stories by Alifa Rifaat

0 votes, 0.0%

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

0 votes, 0.0%

40 total votes

6 comments

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The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks (Do Not Delete Posts)	2519	650	Aug 01, 2014 02:12PM
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Leila’s Quotes

“The sweetest things in life were not necessarily what one strove for and grabbed. Instead, many many times the All-Merciful, the All-Generous would give His servants without being petitioned, without waiting to be asked.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

2 likes

“The blow, inevitable in itself, comes straight from the source without any intermediaries.”
― Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley

3 likes