Salutation Road
Will be published approx. on 6. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-0350-4436-8 (ISBN)
Description
* An Esquire Best Book of the Summer *
'Beautiful, thought-provoking and meaningful' - Nussaibah Younis, Women's Prize 2025 shortlisted author of Fundamentally
'A bold, intriguing act of imagination' - Aube Rey Lescure, Women's Prize shortlisted author of River East, River West
'We may look the same, but I am not you . . . We share nothing but a reflection in the mirror'
Twenty-three-year-old Sirad Ali is a woman adrift. Abandoned by her father in childhood, doing her best to support her mother and younger brother in their small flat in South London, she can't help but wonder if this is the life she really wants.
One morning, Sirad boards her bus to work and finds herself transported to an alternate timeline in present-day Mogadishu. Over the course of a single day, under the sweltering East African sun, Sirad must contend with a lost reality. There she encounters an almost unrecognizable version of her family and comes face to face with her double, Ubah - the woman she could have been, had her parents never fled to London during the Somali Civil War.
Back home in Greenwich, Sirad must go on with life, consumed by all she now knows. But then Ubah mysteriously appears in London, and Sirad begins to understand that nothing will ever be the same again . . .
Salutation Road by Salma Ibrahim is a beautifully told literary debut for fans of Nadifa Mohamed and Mohsin Hamid.
'Beautiful, thought-provoking and meaningful' - Nussaibah Younis, Women's Prize 2025 shortlisted author of Fundamentally
'A bold, intriguing act of imagination' - Aube Rey Lescure, Women's Prize shortlisted author of River East, River West
'We may look the same, but I am not you . . . We share nothing but a reflection in the mirror'
Twenty-three-year-old Sirad Ali is a woman adrift. Abandoned by her father in childhood, doing her best to support her mother and younger brother in their small flat in South London, she can't help but wonder if this is the life she really wants.
One morning, Sirad boards her bus to work and finds herself transported to an alternate timeline in present-day Mogadishu. Over the course of a single day, under the sweltering East African sun, Sirad must contend with a lost reality. There she encounters an almost unrecognizable version of her family and comes face to face with her double, Ubah - the woman she could have been, had her parents never fled to London during the Somali Civil War.
Back home in Greenwich, Sirad must go on with life, consumed by all she now knows. But then Ubah mysteriously appears in London, and Sirad begins to understand that nothing will ever be the same again . . .
Salutation Road by Salma Ibrahim is a beautifully told literary debut for fans of Nadifa Mohamed and Mohsin Hamid.
Reviews / Votes
A bold, intriguing act of imagination . . . Salutation Road confronts important questions about parallel existences splintered by immigration, the price of survival, and the ways migration and distance reshape blood ties and family -- Aube Rey Lescure, Women's Prize shortlisted author of <i>River East, River West</i> Beautiful, thought-provoking and meaningful -- Nussaibah Younis, author of <i>Fundamentally</i> Ibrahim's writing, sentence by sentence, is textured, original and worth savouring. She explores immigration and family, and through alternate realities, the way a single change can lead to a totally different life * Esquire * Ibrahim's lyrical prose and profound insight beautifully examine the duality of self and enduring -- Selina Brown, CEO of Black British Book Festival Salma Ibrahim creates a formidable main character in Sirad Ali * Vogue Arabia * A vital exploration . . . Salutation Road interrogates who and what we would be if our family histories were different, how far we will go for those we love and how much we can ever really know about ourselves. A brilliant debut from a promising new voice -- Nadeine Asbali, author of <i>Veiled Threat</i> The most incredible tale of alternate lives, love and what it means to build a home -- Danielle Giles, author of <i>Mere</i> A poignant , tender and captivating tale of connection, exploring the hidden pieces of ourselves that might have been -- Kosar Ali, BAFTA-nominated actress of RocksMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0350-4436-8 (9781035044368)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2025
Mantle
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Salma Ibrahim is a novelist, short-story writer and marketing manager at UNICEF. Her novel Salutation Road, while still in development, won the London Writers Award in 2019 and was a runner-up in the Future Worlds Prize in 2021. She lives in Greenwich, London, and has also spent a lot of time in the Middle East and East Africa.