Theft

From the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature - 'a maestro' ( Guardian ). A captivating story of the intertwined lives of three young people coming-of-age in postcolonial East Africa **Selected as a book to look out for in 2025 by the Guardian , Observer , Irish Times and BBC** **A Time Book of the Year 2025** ‘A poignant portrait of love, friendship and betrayal’ Guardian ‘Storytelling mastery’ Observer _________________________________________________________ Badar’s story truly begins on the day when, aged fifteen, he is brought to Mistress’s great house in Dar es Salaam – where he proves a quick learner, and gains the friendship of Karim, the young man of the house. But then a false accusation sees Badar banished from the place he has come to call home. Exiled, to a run-down hotel on the coast of Zanzibar, Badar must build a new life for himself. And when Karim comes to see his old friend in his new life, he is captivated by temptations that will test the two young men’s friendship to a breaking point. **Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Awards 2026: Fiction With A Sense of Place**

From the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature - 'a maestro' ( Guardian ). A captivating story of the intertwined lives of three young people coming-of-age in postcolonial East Africa **Selected as a book to look out for in 2025 by the Guardian , Observer , Irish Times and BBC** **A Time Book of the Year 2025** ‘A poignant portrait of love, friendship and betrayal’ Guardian ‘Storytelling mastery’ Observer _________________________________________________________ Badar’s story truly begins on the day when, aged fifteen, he is brought to Mistress’s great house in Dar es Salaam – where he proves a quick learner, and gains the friendship of Karim, the young man of the house. But then a false accusation sees Badar banished from the place he has come to call home. Exiled, to a run-down hotel on the coast of Zanzibar, Badar must build a new life for himself. And when Karim comes to see his old friend in his new life, he is captivated by temptations that will test the two young men’s friendship to a breaking point. **Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Awards 2026: Fiction With A Sense of Place**

**Selected as a Book of the Summer 2025 by the Guardian, Financial Times , Granta , Economist and the BBC ** **Selected as a book of the year 2025 by the Financial Times and Time Magazine** The new novel from the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature - 'a maestro' ( Guardian ). A captivating story of the intertwined lives of three young people coming-of-age in postcolonial East Africa ‘A poignant portrait of love, friendship and betrayal’ Guardian ‘Storytelling mastery’ Observer ‘A piece of great, satisfying storytelling to lose yourself in ’ Samantha Harvey, Guardian Books of the Summer ‘The reader can only rejoice at Gurnah’s skill in giving us the whole of a life in such nimble scenes’ Financial Times ‘Another glittering tapestry of a novel from a master storyteller of our times’ Irish Times _________________________________________________________ What are we given, and what do we have to take for ourselves? It is the 1990s. Growing up in Zanzibar, three very different young people – Karim, Fauzia and Badar – are coming of age, and dreaming of great possibilities in their young nation. But for Badar, an uneducated servant boy who has never known his parents, it seems as if all doors are closed. Brought into a lowly position in a great house in Dar es Salaam, Badar finds the first true home of his life – and the friendship of Karim, the young man of the house. Even when a shattering false accusation sees Badar sent away, Karim and Fauzia refuse to turn away from their friend. But as the three of them take their first steps in love, infatuation, work and parenthood, their bond is tested – and Karim is tempted into a betrayal that will change all of their lives forever. ‘In reading this wise new novel, we the readers become a bit more ready to understand what it means to be human’ Elif Shafak, New Statesman ‘Storytelling mastery, at once coming-of-age chamber piece and wide-angled post-colonial panorama … narrated in a quicksilver style that gives you the pleasurable sense that you’re putty in the hands of a warm yet clear-eyed authorial intelligence’ Observer

**Selected as a Book of the Summer 2025 by the Guardian, Financial Times , Granta , Economist and the BBC ** **Selected as a book of the year 2025 by the Financial Times and Time Magazine** The new novel from the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature - 'a maestro' ( Guardian ). A captivating story of the intertwined lives of three young people coming-of-age in postcolonial East Africa ‘A poignant portrait of love, friendship and betrayal’ Guardian ‘Storytelling mastery’ Observer ‘A piece of great, satisfying storytelling to lose yourself in ’ Samantha Harvey, Guardian Books of the Summer ‘The reader can only rejoice at Gurnah’s skill in giving us the whole of a life in such nimble scenes’ Financial Times ‘Another glittering tapestry of a novel from a master storyteller of our times’ Irish Times _________________________________________________________ What are we given, and what do we have to take for ourselves? It is the 1990s. Growing up in Zanzibar, three very different young people – Karim, Fauzia and Badar – are coming of age, and dreaming of great possibilities in their young nation. But for Badar, an uneducated servant boy who has never known his parents, it seems as if all doors are closed. Brought into a lowly position in a great house in Dar es Salaam, Badar finds the first true home of his life – and the friendship of Karim, the young man of the house. Even when a shattering false accusation sees Badar sent away, Karim and Fauzia refuse to turn away from their friend. But as the three of them take their first steps in love, infatuation, work and parenthood, their bond is tested – and Karim is tempted into a betrayal that will change all of their lives forever. ‘In reading this wise new novel, we the readers become a bit more ready to understand what it means to be human’ Elif Shafak, New Statesman ‘Storytelling mastery, at once coming-of-age chamber piece and wide-angled post-colonial panorama … narrated in a quicksilver style that gives you the pleasurable sense that you’re putty in the hands of a warm yet clear-eyed authorial intelligence’ Observer

**Selected as a Book of the Summer 2025 by the Guardian, Financial Times , Granta , Economist and the BBC ** **Selected as a book of the year 2025 by the Financial Times and Time Magazine** The new novel from the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature - 'a maestro' ( Guardian ). A captivating story of the intertwined lives of three young people coming-of-age in postcolonial East Africa ‘A poignant portrait of love, friendship and betrayal’ Guardian ‘Storytelling mastery’ Observer ‘A piece of great, satisfying storytelling to lose yourself in ’ Samantha Harvey, Guardian Books of the Summer ‘The reader can only rejoice at Gurnah’s skill in giving us the whole of a life in such nimble scenes’ Financial Times ‘Another glittering tapestry of a novel from a master storyteller of our times’ Irish Times _________________________________________________________ What are we given, and what do we have to take for ourselves? It is the 1990s. Growing up in Zanzibar, three very different young people – Karim, Fauzia and Badar – are coming of age, and dreaming of great possibilities in their young nation. But for Badar, an uneducated servant boy who has never known his parents, it seems as if all doors are closed. Brought into a lowly position in a great house in Dar es Salaam, Badar finds the first true home of his life – and the friendship of Karim, the young man of the house. Even when a shattering false accusation sees Badar sent away, Karim and Fauzia refuse to turn away from their friend. But as the three of them take their first steps in love, infatuation, work and parenthood, their bond is tested – and Karim is tempted into a betrayal that will change all of their lives forever. ‘In reading this wise new novel, we the readers become a bit more ready to understand what it means to be human’ Elif Shafak, New Statesman ‘Storytelling mastery, at once coming-of-age chamber piece and wide-angled post-colonial panorama … narrated in a quicksilver style that gives you the pleasurable sense that you’re putty in the hands of a warm yet clear-eyed authorial intelligence’ Observer

**Selected as a Book of the Summer 2025 by the Guardian, Financial Times , Granta , Economist and the BBC ** **Selected as a book of the year 2025 by the Financial Times and Time Magazine** The new novel from the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature - 'a maestro' ( Guardian ). A captivating story of the intertwined lives of three young people coming-of-age in postcolonial East Africa ‘A poignant portrait of love, friendship and betrayal’ Guardian ‘Storytelling mastery’ Observer ‘A piece of great, satisfying storytelling to lose yourself in ’ Samantha Harvey, Guardian Books of the Summer ‘The reader can only rejoice at Gurnah’s skill in giving us the whole of a life in such nimble scenes’ Financial Times ‘Another glittering tapestry of a novel from a master storyteller of our times’ Irish Times _________________________________________________________ What are we given, and what do we have to take for ourselves? It is the 1990s. Growing up in Zanzibar, three very different young people – Karim, Fauzia and Badar – are coming of age, and dreaming of great possibilities in their young nation. But for Badar, an uneducated servant boy who has never known his parents, it seems as if all doors are closed. Brought into a lowly position in a great house in Dar es Salaam, Badar finds the first true home of his life – and the friendship of Karim, the young man of the house. Even when a shattering false accusation sees Badar sent away, Karim and Fauzia refuse to turn away from their friend. But as the three of them take their first steps in love, infatuation, work and parenthood, their bond is tested – and Karim is tempted into a betrayal that will change all of their lives forever. ‘In reading this wise new novel, we the readers become a bit more ready to understand what it means to be human’ Elif Shafak, New Statesman ‘Storytelling mastery, at once coming-of-age chamber piece and wide-angled post-colonial panorama … narrated in a quicksilver style that gives you the pleasurable sense that you’re putty in the hands of a warm yet clear-eyed authorial intelligence’ Observer