"By the Sea" is one of the masterpieces of the 2021 Nobel Prize writer Gurner. The novel tells the story of Saleh Omar, a middle-aged man who came to the UK from Zanzibar to seek political asylum at the end of the 20th century. After arriving in the UK, Omar was arranged to live temporarily in a seaside town. Because he used the name of his former hometown enemy Rajeb Sherbon when entering the country, his son Latif came to visit, which aroused the grievances and hatred between the two families. Living together in a foreign country that was full of hostility, Omar and Latif gradually opened their hearts, and the truth finally emerged...
The novel uses flashbacks, interludes and other methods to explain the reasons why the protagonist Omar left his hometown, which leads to various memories, ranging from family feuds to Zanzibar's colonial independence history. The constant changes in narrative angles, the overlapping of memories and forgetting, form Gurna's unique narrative art. "By the Sea" demonstrates Gulner's deep concern for the situation of refugees, especially those caught between different cultures.
