The Fugitives

Reviews / Votes

Engaging tale of an old Khartoum jazz band who reform to play a gig in America . . . Mahjoub weaves in interesting political and ethnic themes, amid some lovely writing about friendship and music * * Observer * * A novel of regeneration through music and the secret hunger of quiet lives. It is an immersive, humorous and powerful novel from a truly great writer who deserves a very wide audience -- CHIGOZIE OBIOMA A terrific work of fiction . . . Mahjoub moves his characters around one another and the events they've brought upon themselves with the command and finesse of a master storyteller who knows he has his audience enthralled . . . A truly humane story of love, hope, and faith. An exhilarating, profoundly moving, musical romp. I loved it -- MIRZA WAHEED A rip-roaring adventure from Khartoum to Harlem and an ode to jazz, creativity and freedom of expression . . . a heartfelt and touching book * * Bad Form * * Humorous * * Cosmopolitan * * (A) powerful treatise on music and memory * * Open Country Magazine, Books of 2021 * * Heartwarming * * Africa Report, Must-Read Literary Books of 2021 * * The Fugitives offers readers a remarkable and entertaining story of a band of Sudanese musicians travelling far from home . . . Mahjoub's skill positions the Kings' playing as a practice that, as well as being magical, is a bridge, a form of profound resistance: "this isn't an orchestra; this is an army" -- Camilla Delhanty * * Africa in Words * * Praise for Jamal Mahjoub: Mahjoub writes with sensitivity and intelligence, and with a deft feel for the complexity of his material -- ABDULRAZAK GURNAH * * Wasafiri * * Praise for A Line in the River: A wonderfully subtle exploration of place, identity and memory * * Guardian * *