Heaven

The story takes place in Zanzibar, East Africa, which was under the shadow of German colonization a hundred years ago. This is an ancient land where multiple civilizations blend and multiple religions coexist. Yousuf, a boy, was mortgaged by his father to the businessman Aziz to repay the debt. Since then, he traveled with the caravan to foreign lands and experienced the hardships of survival. He was puzzled by the unpredictability of Aziz, the guide in his growth ceremony; he was curious about the weeping and whispering of the mad woman locked behind the garden; It is like the gate of heaven, opening his eyes: whether to endure humiliation and steal a life, guarding the square inch of the shop to become a small shopkeeper, or become as strong as iron in the cruel world, to find a place with gardens and fountains, more freedom and dignity Paradise for the poor?

"Paradise", published in 1994, is one of Gurner's masterpieces. The author embeds a boy's growth story in the background of social turmoil and historical change by using the perspective of a teenager who has no experience in the world and does not apply filters. The moments and stories that people live by and by which they know themselves."