SOURCE: Thatcher, Jean-Louise. Review of The Sand Child, by Tahar Ben Jelloun. Middle East Journal 42, no. 3 (summer 1988): 481-85.

In the following excerpt, Thatcher applauds Ben Jelloun's use of metaphor and imagery in The Sand Child, calling the novel “sensitive and perceptive.”

All of these novels are thematically rich. Tahar Ben Jelloun's The Sand Child, for example, is based firmly on culture/tradition, but the plot is influenced by and developed with the aid of literary legacy, legend, and the vivid imagination of the author.

France's most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt was awarded in November 1987 to Moroccan writer Ben Jelloun for his novel, The Sacred Night, sequel to The Sand Child. Only six non-French novelists have achieved this distinction since the prize was first awarded in 1903, and Ben Jelloun is the first to be chosen from one of France's former North African colonies. The Sand Child, which...