Sand Roses

By

It is 1931 when two sisters arrive in Bousaada bursting with dreams of becoming successful dancers. But the city, occupied by the ruthless French colonial army, changes their lives forever.
When they kill a soldier in self-defense, Fahima and Salima must outsmart the French Colonel who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. The sisters are driven further into a cycle of violence with every attempt to hide their crime. Risking their lives and the lives of their loved ones, the dancers find themselves at the heart of a civilizational clash.

RUNNER-UP FOR THE 2022 ISLAND PRIZE FOR DEBUT AFRICAN NOVELS

SAND ROSES is a tale of resistance, sisterhood and the shameful past of two colliding nations. This extraordinarily immersive narrative thrusts its reader into the Algerian city of Bousaada during the 1930s and the story of the Nailiya dancers.

“…an extraordinarily immersive narrative, and a fascinating story of the little-known Ouled Nail dancers” – The Island Prize Judges.

‘…a resounding portrait of colonial Algeria in the 20th century… In Sand Roses Hamza Koudri invokes a nostalgia for Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of
a Geisha and the uncanny resemblance between the Japanese geisha and Algeria’s Ouled Nail practice’ – Obinna Udenwe, Winner of the Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature.

‘Algerian author Hamza Koudri is brilliant in his debut’ – The Brittle Paper, 100 Notable African Books of 2023.

‘…With an immersive narrative and a clear writing style, … the author juggles between fiction and historical reality to paint an unprecedented picture of the region.’ – Reslane Lounici, Dzeriet Magazine.