Theft (Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature)

A Novel

By: Abdulrazak Gurnah

Narrated by: Ashley Zhangazha

Named a Washington Post Top 10 Fiction Book of 2025

In his first new novel since winning the 2021 Nobel Prize, a master storyteller captures a time of dizzying global change.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university with new swagger and ambition. Fauzia glimpses in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. The two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all. As tourism, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils reach their quiet corner of the world, bringing, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.

Great slice of life

The first two-thirds were an interesting look at the lives of a handful of residents of modern Tanzania. It was nice, but it wasn’t until the final one-third that we get any serious drama - a doomed and destructive romance on Zanzibar. It’s worth the slow start to get to that last riveting section.

Interesting cultural context

The story is very slow moving but I loved the interesting picture it paints of Tanzanian culture. The hero of the story is Badar and he is the one we come to love and admire due to his suffering and strong character. The British aid workers were characterized as very calculating and aggressive - taking whatever they want and leaving a wreck in their wake. I wanted the story to go on. I am motivated to read another work by this author.

History

I did learn about Zansabar and the characters were so well presented. Fami;y connections were so real to life

Storytelling at it’s best.

Transformed the reader to a new world where honor, tradition and respect intersect with passion and individual freedom

Bader

This novel does not present a traditional story but instead offers a compilation of biographies of individuals whose lives intersect. It reads almost like an autobiography of Karim, richly detailing his encounters with various people. While the narrative style is distinctive, this work does not quite reach the heights of Gurnah's other acclaimed novels, including Paradise and Afterlives.