Zaraf English Books
Blind to Beauty
A novel By Bushra Elfadil - Translated from Arabic by Aisha Musa
Born into silence in a remote Sudanese oasis, Ta’eesa grows within a world shaped by exile, memory, and survival. Blind and unable to speak, she perceives life through touch, scent, and an inner richness that defies isolation. Around her unfolds the layered history of an oasis known as the Old Waterskin—a place founded by fugitives from colonial violence, sustained by fragile bonds between masters and former slaves, women and men, past and future. As generations pass, the oasis becomes a living archive of loss and transformation: children are born, traditions erode, love crosses forbidden lines, and old hierarchies quietly dissolve. At its heart, Ta’eesa embodies a different kind of seeing—one that reveals how endurance, care, and human connection reshape identity. Nor the Old Waterskin is a lyrical meditation on belonging, inheritance, and the quiet revolutions that unfold far from history’s center.