A new Somali novel sparks a debate on secret marriages

Geeltoosiye, by Shamsa Sheegow, is now being billed as a remarkable and original work of art on the theme of secret marriages.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — Since 1991 writing novels in Somali has seen a marked decline, but that is about to change. A new novel, Geeltoosiye, by Shamsa Sheegow, is now being billed as a remarkable and original work of art on the theme of secretive marriages.

The main character of the novel, a successful Somali-American man, returns to Somali to work for the Agriculture Ministry in Mogadishu , and falls in love with and marries a lowly female worker at the ministry unbeknownst to his wife. The plot gets thicker when the man gets introduced to a Somali female divorcee in Sweden who falls for him.

“This novel presents an aspect of the Somali social life and reflects the saying “love is blind” despite marital obligations that have not to be violated. The book has the potential to be turned into a film” wrote Mohamed Hirsi Guuleed, a Somali author based in Sweden.

© Puntland Post, 2024