THE HOUSE OF RUST
A Novel
The first Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize winner, a story of a girl’s fantastical sea voyage to rescue her father
The House of Rust is an enchanting novel about a Hadrami girl in Mombasa. When her fisherman father goes missing, Aisha takes to the sea on a magical boat made of a skeleton to rescue him. She is guided by a talking scholar’s cat (and soon crows, goats, and other animals all have their say, too). On this journey Aisha meets three terrifying sea monsters. After she survives a final confrontation with Baba wa Papa,
The first Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize winner, a story of a girl’s fantastical sea voyage to rescue her father
The House of Rust is an enchanting novel about a Hadrami girl in Mombasa. When her fisherman father goes missing, Aisha takes to the sea on a magical boat made of a skeleton to rescue him. She is guided by a talking scholar’s cat (and soon crows, goats, and other animals all have their say, too). On this journey Aisha meets three terrifying sea monsters. After she survives a final confrontation with Baba wa Papa, the father of all sharks, she rescues her own father, and hopes that life will return to normal. But at home, things only grow stranger. Khadija Abdalla Bajaber’s debut is a fabulist coming-of-age tale told through the lens of the Swahili and diasporic Hadrami culture in Mombasa, Kenya. Richly descriptive and written with an imaginative hand and sharp eye for unusual detail, The House of Rust is a memorable novel by a thrilling new voice.
- Graywolf Press
- Paperback
- October 2021
- 272 Pages
- 9781644450680
Buy the Book
$16.00
About Khadija Abdalla Bajaber
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber is a Mombasarian writer of Hadrami descent and the winner of the inaugural Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize. Her work has appeared in Enkare Review, Lolwe, and Down River Road among other places. She lives in Mombasa, Kenya.
Praise
“A novel stuffed to bursting with marvels and fairy-tale delights. Khadija Abdalla Bajaber casts a mighty spell.”—Kelly Link
“Khadija Abdalla Bajaber’s command of language and story is transcendent. The House of Rust is an immersive experience in Kenyan mythology, and an honest exploration of loss and family from a uniquely talented writer.”—Wayétu Moore
“The House of Rust is a gorgeous coming-of-age story, and I’m going to be obsessing about it for quite some time. . . . I wanted to lose myself forever in the dark spaces of Khadija Abdalla Bajaber’s prose.”—Charlie Jane Anders
Discussion Questions
1. The coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya is an important character in The House of Rust. What did you know about Mombasa before starting the novel? If you are less familiar with it, take some time to read about the city from a few outside sources. How do these facts relate to what you read in the novel?
2. How is The House of Rust like other quest narratives you have encountered? How is it different?
3. Who are the heroes and who are the villains in this story? Are these clear and simple distinctions?
4. What roles do animals and monsters play in the novel? How does this change throughout the course of the book?
5. The House of Rust pays close attention to lineages and inheritance. What are examples of things passed on between generations? Does this transfer ever occur from younger to older generations?
6. How does food show up as an important detail in the text? What aspects of this cuisine were familiar to you, and what aspects were new? Did the novel make you want to try Swahili food?
7. Khadija Abdalla Bajaber skillfully depicts how characters’ inner lives and thoughts conflict or diverge from their speech and actions, which are so often influenced by the roles they are expected to play. Give some examples of the secret lives these characters carry within. How do some of these tensions resolve and come into the light as events unfold?
8. On page 128, Zubeir tells Aisha, “You say you don’t understand when you mean to say you don’t know how you feel or can’t accept it.” Name several instances in which characters take journeys or expend great effort just to understand knowledge they already carried within themselves.
9. Is the House of Rust a real place? What do you imagine it to be like?