Hope Has Two Daughters | CBC Books - Action News
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Hope Has Two Daughters

Monia Mazigh weaves together the voices of two women at two pivotal moments in history the Tunisian Bread Riots in 1984 and the Jasmine Revolution in 2010.

Monia Mazigh

Unwilling to endure a culture of silence and submission, and disowned by her family, Nadia leaves her native Tunisia in 1984 amidst deadly violence, chaos and rioting brought on by rising food costs, eventually emigrating to Canada to begin her life.

More than 25 years later, Nadia's daughter Lila reluctantly travels to Tunisia to learn about her mother's birth country. She uncovers agonizing truths about her mother's life as a teenager and imagines what it might have been like to grow up in fear of political instability and social unrest. Soon, Lila finds herself in the midst of another revolution one that will inflame the country and change the Arab world, and her, forever. Weaving together the voices of two women at two pivotal moments in history, the Tunisian Bread Riots in 1984 and the Jasmine Revolution in 2010,Hope Has Two Daughtersis a bracing, vivid story that perfectly captures life inside revolution.(From House of Anansi Press)

Read an excerpt | Author interviews

From the book

Aunt Neila and Uncle Mounir made an odd couple. Light years away from Mom and Dad's noisy relationship. There was sadness in Aunt Neila's eyes that never left her, even when she smiled. It was as though she and sadness were one and the same. More than a few times, since I'd been staying with them, I'd come upon her crouched on her prayer mat, bent forward, thighs touching her stomach, head hung low as if she's a prisoner of war.


From Hope Has Two Daughters by Monia Mazigh 2016. Published by House of Anansi Press.

Author interviews