Algeria - Arab Today
Algerian novelist Djamila Morani announced that she will participate in the Cairo International Book Fair 2017, scheduled to launch on 27 January, with two novels. Morani will present her first novel titled "Taj el-Khatiaa" (Crown of Sin) through Mim publication, while the second novel titled "Tufah el-Djinn" (The Devil's Apple), recently released by Dar El Waleed publication, will be presented in the Dar Al-Kitab Al Arabi's avenue in the book fair in Cairo.
Morani revealed the plot of its new novel, in an interview with Arabs Today, saying that Tufah el-Djinn was set in Baghdad during the Abbasid period. A 12-year old girl called Narden, who has witnessed the assassination of her family and escapes, is faced with two choices: let herself die or get better to find out why her father became such a threat and to whom.
She added: "Narden entered a medical school in Baghdad to be near from those who allegedly killed her family, her father's friend Al-Asfy. In the school, she met a Jew doctor called Isaac who is known for his knowledge of medical plants. Isaac taught Narden all the secrets of medicinal plants, except one plant called Tufah el-Djinn. Then Narden met a young man named Suhaib and loved him, though she discovered that he was the son of Al-Asfy. Suhaib defended his father, only to find that Isaac has helped Al-Asfy to murder her family.
Morani told Arabs Today that she considers writing a second part of the novel, after she studied the Islamic history.
She said that this novel is like the Islamic version of Harry Porter series supported by real historical information.
Morani is a young novelist and an Arabic language professor in Algeria. Her first work was released in 2015 titled "Taj el-Khatiaa". It combines between the real historical event and fiction, and was set in the Abbasid period at Kazakhstan. It sheds light on the conflicts between the princes and the ruling families in that period.