Skip to content

La nuit sacrée

La nuit sacrée

Contemporary LiteratureLiterary Fiction
Pages
188
Language
French

Synopsis

On the night her father dies, a young Moroccan woman learns the truth that shaped her whole life: born a daughter to a man desperate for a male heir, she was raised as a boy named Ahmed, her true gender hidden from everyone. Freed at last, she reclaims herself as Zahra and walks out into a Morocco that is half real and half dream — finding tenderness with a blind man known as the Consul, and cruelty, imprisonment, and vengeance along the way. Tahar Ben Jelloun's Prix Goncourt-winning novel, the luminous and brutal sequel to The Sand Child.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

Thought-ProvokingComplexReflectiveEmotional
Coming of Age

Genres

Contemporary Literature Literary Fiction

About the author

T
Tahar Ben Jelloun

Tahar Ben Jelloun (en arabe : الطاهر بن جلون) est un écrivain, poète et peintre franco-marocain né le 1er décembre 1944 à Fès (Maroc). Auteur de nouvelles, romans, poèmes et essais, il est lauréat du prix Goncourt pour son roman La Nuit sacrée. Bien que sa langue maternelle soit l'arabe, il écrit en français. En 2004, il a reçu le prix littéraire international IMPAC Dublin pour Cette aveuglante absence de lumière. En 2008, il a été décoré de la Croix de Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur....

Characters

ZahraProtagonist

Raised as a boy named Ahmed by a father desperate for a son, she reclaims her womanhood after his death.

All characters in La nuit sacrée

Frequently asked questions

  • Does La nuit sacrée have a sequel?

    This novel is the direct continuation of "L'Enfant de sable," picking up the story of the protagonist. While it can be read independently, understanding the events of the previous book enriches the experience.

  • What award did La nuit sacrée win?

    Tahar Ben Jelloun was awarded the Prix Goncourt for "La nuit sacrée," making him the first Maghrebi author to receive France's most prestigious literary prize. This recognition significantly elevated the book's profile and its author's international standing.

Read all 1 reviews