I am in the early stages of this project but my expectation is that it will become a novel. The planned outline of the narrative is as follows. A young man arrives in a town without money and without work. He has an injury in his leg about which he is silent. His demeanour is generally withdrawn. His name is Hamza. He had lived in the town before as a youth, but he had lived a restricted life, and recent events may have confused him. He finds a benefactor who offers him accommodation, where he befriends the servant girl. Through their courtship we discover Hamza’s story.
This other narrative line concerns Hamza’s recruitment in the schutztruppen in the German East war and the relationship he has with a German officer. There is still more to read but the writing is under way, and I plan to press on with both while I am at Stias.
