S8E11 As Rich as the King: Abigail Assor’s bittersweet love-letter to Casablanca

“Loving a country is also never ceasing to be demanding. Through that book I asked my city to do something else, to change the system. I have a bittersweet relationship with the city. I love it. And at the same time, I have a little bit of anger.”

Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco, is a city of great inequality - a patriarchal system run by a monarchy. And in ‘As Rich as the King’, we see how that inequality impacts the life of sixteen-year-old French teenager Sarah.

Abigail Assor’s brilliantly poignant novel is inspired by her own experience growing up in Casablanca in the 90s. Sarah, while poor, attends Casablanca’s elite high school for expats and wealthy locals. It’s there that she tries to form a relationship with Driss, rumoured to be the richest guy in the city - but to do that she has to cross the gaping social divide that separates them.

In this episode, you will learn:

• When to avoid making heroes of your characters.
• Why, if you love a place, you must confront the harsh truths about it. 
• How to effectively communicate the underlying message of your book.

Find out more about Abigail here.

Your host is inkjockey founder Mark Heywood.

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You can view the full transcript here.

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