Longlisted for the 2023 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Arab Booker), «The Melody of the Rabbit» by Moroccan writer Muhammad Harradi.
Idris, the main protagonist of «The Melody of the Rabbit», lives a monotonous existence working in a gloomy basement archive under the city, which represents state surveillance of its citizens. Passionate about Russian history, culture and its revolutionary heroes, he spends his time researching the Russian families who settled in Rabat after the Bolshevik Revolution. Living in a parallel fantasy world and indulging in constant daydreaming to escape his Kafkaesque existence, Idris begins to imagine that he is one of the Russian immigrants and styles himself as «His Majesty». Underlying this charade, he relives painful childhood memories, in particular the killing of his father in the bloody political struggles following Moroccan independence. He remains in isolation, with no visitors to the basement, until a new colleague arrives: Suaad, who has studied English literature, and they begin an ambiguous romantic relationship. (arabicfiction.org)