Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah audiobook review – coming-of-age saga in Tanzania

The Nobel prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah is known for his portrayals of east Africans and the after-effects of colonial rule. Opening in Zanzibar in the aftermath of independence, his 11th novel, Theft, spans half a century as it documents the lives of Karim, Fauzia and Badar. We learn how young Karim is treated as “an afterthought” by his mother, Raya, who divorces her much older husband and leaves her son behind to start a new life. Mother and son are reunited several years later in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Raya has married a pharmacist named Haji. Karim, who grows up to be handsome, intelligent and more than a little conceited, gets a scholarship to study in the city and meets Fauzia, who is training to be a teacher and is keen to avoid the fate of other “mute daughter[s] laid out for deflowering”. She and Karim marry, and the pair open their home to Badar, a former servant of Raya and Haji’s who was abandoned by his parents as a child. Related: Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah review – love and betrayal from the Nobel laureate Actor Ashley Zhangazha is the narrator of this intimate drama about interconnected lives, his reading deftly navigating the contrasting voices and interior lives of the main characters. A bomb lands in their midst in the form of an English NGO manager who catches Karim’s eye, culminating in a dramatic denouement. Though we are alert to the protagonists’ flaws and idiosyncrasies, Theft underlines how wider events, past and present, exert an influence on all their lives. • Available via Bloomsbury, 9hr 49min Further listening Don’t Make Me LaughJulia Raeside, Bedford Square & WF Howes, 11hr 13minElizabeth Bower reads this smart, insightful debut set in the world of comedy in which female producer with self-esteem issues befriends a male performer whose attentiveness masks a dark and predatory agenda. All the Way to the RiverElizabeth Gilbert, Bloomsbury, 10hr 10minThe mega-selling Eat, Pray, Love author chronicles the heady ups and desperate downs of her relationship with her drug-addicted friend turned partner Rayya. When Rayya is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Gilbert dedicates herself to looking after her.