Black Mamba Boy
{{Short description|2010 novel by Nadifa Mohamed}}{{Infobox book
| name = Black Mamba Boy
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Black Mamba Boy.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Nadifa Mohamed
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series =
| genre = historical novel, roman a clef
| publisher = HarperCollins
| release_date = 2010
| media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)
| pages = 304 pp (1st hardcover edition)
| isbn = 0-374-11419-6
| isbn_note=
{{ISBN|978-0-374-11419-0}} (recent paperback edition)
| oclc = 456171394
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = The Orchard of Lost Souls
}}
Black Mamba Boy is a 2010 novel by the Somali-British author Nadifa Mohamed.
Overview
Black Mamba Boy (2010), the debut novel of Nadifa Mohamed, is a semi-autobiographical account of her father's life in Yemen in the 1930s and 40s, during the colonial period through a character called Jama.[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/black-mamba-boy-by-nadifa-mohamed-1867909.html "Black Mamba Boy, By Nadifa Mohamed"], reviewed by Arifa Akbar, The Independent, 15 January 2010, It also recounts his trek through Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and the Mediterranean, before eventually settling in the United Kingdom. Jama's journey starts from Aden, Yemen, in 1935, after the death of Ambaro, his mother, and ends in Port Talbot, Wales, in 1947.{{Cite book |last=Mohamed |first=Nadifa |title=Black mamba boy |date=2010 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-11419-0 |edition=1st American |location=New York}}
The "Black Mamba" reference in its title is an allusion to the black mamba snake. According to the author:
"When my grandmother was heavily pregnant with my father, she was following her family’s caravan and she got lost and separated from the others. She sat down to rest under an acacia tree and a black mamba snake crept upon her belly before slithering away, leaving her unharmed. She took this as a sign that the child she carried would always be protected, and that’s how the title of the book came about."Laila Ali, [http://wardheernews.com/News_10/Oct/29_Female_authors_showcase_their_work.html "Somali Week Festival - Female Authors Showcase Their Work"], WardheerNews.com, 28 October 2010. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928052810/http://wardheernews.com/News_10/Oct/29_Female_authors_showcase_their_work.html |date=28 September 2011 }}
Awards
The novel won the 2010 Betty Trask Award, and was short-listed for numerous awards, including the 2010 Guardian First Book Award,Benedicte Page, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/29/guardian-first-book-award-shortlist "Guardian first book award shortlist revealed"], The Guardian, 29 October 2010. the 2010 Dylan Thomas Prize,[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11642324 "Somali author Nadifa Mohamed up for first book prize"], BBC, 28 October 2010. and the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.{{cite web|title=Shortlist announced for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2010 |publisher=booktrust |accessdate=31 October 2010 |url=http://www.booktrust.org.uk/Prizes-and-awards/John-Llewellyn-Rhys-Prize |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127082624/http://www.booktrust.org.uk/Prizes-and-awards/John-Llewellyn-Rhys-Prize |archivedate=27 November 2010 }} The book was also long-listed for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction.[http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/show/feature/orange-2010-NM-black-mamba Black Mamba Boy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323030932/http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/show/feature/orange-2010-NM-black-mamba |date=2010-03-23 }}, Orange Prize for Fiction
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/456171394 Black Mamba Boy] at WorldCat
Category:Novels set in Mandatory Palestine
Category:Novels set in the 1930s