"[Author Leila Abouzeid] is thus a product of independent Morocco, and represents the members of the generation who came to maturity under a new central government, in a society very different from that of their parents. Year of the Elephant addresses three inter-related problems of this new generation: the issue of history, the issue of a national language and the issue of feminism." (Introduction, pages xii-xiii)

"[The Year of the Elephant] opens a small window through which western readers may glimpse not only an aspect of the realities of Moroccan women's lives, but also an aspect of the rich historical heritage and the complex reality—political, economic, linguistic—that in itself constitutes Morocco in the late 20th century." (Introduction, page xxvi)

"I come back to my hometown feeling shattered and helpless. Yesterday, anxiety was tearing me apart, but today despair is tormenting me even more. I...