THE STRANGERS

THE STRANGERS

Rabah Kheddouci

The novel began with the fugue of the divorcee Sakina. Heartbroken and soul-sick, she left behind her hamlet of birth, deceased father (Ibrahim), ailing mother (Hajar) and desperate brother (Kamal). Sin-ridden as Sir Hoffmann raped her after he'd drugged her first, she ran away southwards, that is , to the Sahara. There, she was lodged by a female pen friend, named Khadija. The latter had a brother (Imran), who married her after he was set free. They gave birth to a child (Salah). As the years wore by, a detective (Omar) traveled to the date-canning factory where Sakina worked. He appalled her when he'd told her that her brother committed suicide and her demented mother wandered in the streets in rags. At once, the three-member family took the bus to the northern hamlet of Sakina. There, she found out the poor condition of her mother, despite the fact she would regularly send her mother postal money orders. It turned out that Nejma, her Jewish neighbor, stole it all. Nejma was a double agent working for Israeli intelligence. Her schemes were uncovered by secret police. Sakina learned that her ex-husband (Adnan Neftawi) had killed her rapist, Sir Hoffmann when he learned the truth. The Strangers, is a fiction cleverly written by a prolific author who succeeded to make a fit analogy between the poignant story of the characters and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the 1948 Calamity. . A must read.