Identity & Belonging — The Book Roads

Season of Migration to the North

Tayeb Salih

Season of Migration to the North follows an unnamed Sudanese narrator who returns to his village beside the Nile after studying in England. Hoping to resume a familiar life, he becomes intrigued by Mustafa Sa’eed, a mysterious newcomer whose intelligence and European education conceal a disturbing past. As the narrator gradually uncovers Mustafa’s history, he learns about the man’s experiences in colonial London, where his relationships with European women became entangled with questions of power, desire, and cultural identity. Through the parallel lives of these two men, Tayeb Salih examines the psychological consequences of colonialism and the complicated relationship between Africa and Europe. The novel challenges simplistic divisions between coloniser and colonised, revealing how both cultures can shape and unsettle individual identities. Set against the traditions of a Sudanese village undergoing social change, the story also explores masculinity, gender, and the tension between inherited values and modern influences. Provocative and psychologically complex, the novel asks whether returning home can ever resolve the conflicts created by migration and cultural displacement.

Sudan 1966