Once a young girl in Somalia who wanted to be in films and escape the domineering grasp of her father, Adua is now an "Old Lira," a woman who immigrated to Italy during the first wave in the 1970's. With the end of the Somalian civil war, Adua begins to seriously consider returning to the country of her birth. Sitting at the foot of the elephant statue that holds up the obelisk in Santa Maria square in Rome, she recounts her story, attempting to make sense of the past forty years and what the future might hold. When she first arrived in Rome and her film dreams ended in failure and shame, she knew she could not return to totalitarian Somalia and the vice-like purview of her father. Once a translator for the Italian colonial regime, her father's past in Italy and the rest of his life in Somalia were characterized by attempts to live fully under the punishing hand of regimes, while Adua was left to reckon with the after-effects of his choices.

Adua is the unforgettable story of a father and daughter grappling with the implications of colonialism, immigration and racism that have bisected both of their lives.



Igiaba Scego



Utterly sublime. Igiaba Scego strikes the perfect balance between melancholy humour and simmering rage. Adua



tells a gripping story of war, migration and family, exposing us to the pain and hope that reside in each encounter.



Lucid and forthright... examines the linked consequences of Italian colonization, instability in 1970s Somalia, and the current refugee crisis in Europe... an illuminating work appropriate for a wide range of readers.



A memorable, affecting tale... brings the decolonization of Africa to life... all the more affecting for being told without sentimentality or self-pity.