Black Mamba Boy
2010 novel by Nadifa Mohamed
title: "Black Mamba Boy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2010-british-novels", "2010-debut-novels", "harpercollins-books", "novels-set-in-egypt", "novels-set-in-mandatory-palestine", "novels-set-in-sudan", "novels-set-in-the-1930s", "novels-set-in-the-1940s", "novels-set-in-the-middle-east"] description: "2010 novel by Nadifa Mohamed" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba_Boy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 2010 novel by Nadifa Mohamed ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox book"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Black Mamba Boy |
| image | Black Mamba Boy.jpg |
| caption | First edition |
| author | Nadifa Mohamed |
| country | United Kingdom |
| language | English |
| genre | historical novel, roman a clef |
| publisher | HarperCollins |
| release_date | 2010 |
| media_type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| pages | 304 pp (1st hardcover edition) |
| isbn | 0-374-11419-6 |
| isbn_note | |
| (recent paperback edition) | |
| oclc | 456171394 |
| followed_by | The Orchard of Lost Souls |
| :: |
| name = Black Mamba Boy | title_orig = | translator = | image = Black Mamba Boy.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Nadifa Mohamed | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = historical novel, roman a clef | publisher = HarperCollins | release_date = 2010 | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) | pages = 304 pp (1st hardcover edition) | isbn = 0-374-11419-6 | isbn_note= (recent paperback edition) | oclc = 456171394 | preceded_by = | followed_by = The Orchard of Lost Souls
Black Mamba Boy is a 2010 novel by the Somali-British author Nadifa Mohamed.
Overview
Black Mamba Boy (2010), the debut novel of Nadifa Mohamed, is a semi-autobiographical account of her father's life in Yemen in the 1930s and 1940s, during the colonial period through a character called Jama. It also recounts his trek through Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and the Mediterranean, before eventually settling in the United Kingdom. Jama's journey starts from Aden, Yemen, in 1935, after the death of Ambaro, his mother, and ends in Port Talbot, Wales, in 1947.
The "Black Mamba" reference in its title is an allusion to the black mamba snake. According to the author:
Awards
The novel won the 2010 Betty Trask Award, and was short-listed for numerous awards, including the 2010 Guardian First Book Award, the 2010 Dylan Thomas Prize, and the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. The book was also long-listed for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction.
References
References
- Akbar, Arifa. (15 January 2010). "Black Mamba Boy, By Nadifa Mohamed". The Independent.
- Mohamed, Nadifa. (2010). "Black mamba boy". Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Ali, Laila, [http://wardheernews.com/News_10/Oct/29_Female_authors_showcase_their_work.html "Somali Week Festival - Female Authors Showcase Their Work"], WardheerNews.com, 28 October 2010. {{webarchive. link. (28 September 2011)
- Benedicte Page, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/29/guardian-first-book-award-shortlist "Guardian first book award shortlist revealed"], ''The Guardian'', 29 October 2010.
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11642324 "Somali author Nadifa Mohamed up for first book prize"], BBC, 28 October 2010.
- "Shortlist announced for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2010". booktrust.
- [http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/show/feature/orange-2010-NM-black-mamba Black Mamba Boy] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-03-23 , Orange Prize for Fiction)
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::