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    Poor Mercy
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    Poor Mercy
    Unavailable
    Poor Mercy
    Ebook367 pages5 hours

    Poor Mercy

    By Jonathan Falla

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Poor Mercy is a vivid, engrossing work of fiction' Michel Faber, The GuardianAn unusual love story told with insight and tenderness, it is studded with beautifully observed descriptions of place' Jennie Renton, Scottish Review of BooksPoor Mercy fulfils an important function, preserving a wretched moment in history, giving substance to events that would otherwise soon be forgotten in favour of the next humanitarian crisis' Claudia Pugh-Thomas, TLS Set in Darfur, this novel is a dramatic and tragic story of an improbable love between two people caught up in an African famine: Mogga and Leila, a black and an Arab, should supposedly not even like each other. But as the country teeters on the edge of catastrophic famine and civil war looms, they cling to each other's dignity, humour and humanity. Both work for the same European aid agency. Both are vulnerable, targets for hatred and resentment. Both are strangely, triumphantly resilient.Based on his own experience of disaster agencies, Falla's novel is fiercely authentic, poignant and darkly witty. As the expatriates bicker, their English team leader struggles to unravel the evil politics behind the famine, and reaches a highly controversial decision. But he may not be able to save the local people who have put themselves on the line. The foreigners can always take themselves off home when things go wrong; for the locals, it may already be too late as the book builds towards a terrifying climax.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPolygon
    Release dateMay 1, 2011
    ISBN9781495652981
    Unavailable
    Poor Mercy
    Author

    Jonathan Falla

    Jonathan Falla is an English writer long resident in Scotland, UK. He is the acclaimed author of more than a dozen books from publishers such as Longman, Cambridge University Press, Aurora Metro, and Polygon. These include five novels, a study of Burmese rebels, poetry translations, military memoirs and drama. Born in Jamaica, Falla was educated at Cambridge. He trained as a specialist nurse and for many years he worked for international aid agencies in Java, Burma, Sudan, Nepal and Uganda. He is now Director of the St Andrews University creative writing summer school, and also teaches arts subjects for the Open University. He is the winner of several prizes including a PEN fiction award, the 2007 Creative Scotland Award and a senior Fulbright fellowship at the University of Southern California.

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