''The Moor's Account'' is a novel by

Laila Lalami Laila Lalami (, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor. After earning her '' licence ès lettres'' degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), where she earned an MA in linguist ...

. It was a

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

finalist in 2015. ''The Moor's Account'' is a fictional memoir of Estebanico, the Moroccan slave who survived the

Narvaez expedition Narvaez (also appearing with an acute accent, as Narváez) is a surname of Spanish and also Basque origin. Notable people with the surname include: Politics *Elina Narváez, Ecuadorian politician *Francisco de Narváez (born 1953), Colombian-born ...

and accompanied

Cabeza de Vaca In Mexican cuisine, ''cabeza'' (''lit.'' 'head'), from barbacoa de cabeza, is the meat from a roasted beef head, served as taco or burrito fillings. It typically refers to barbacoa de cabeza or beef-head barbacoa, an entire beef-head traditionall ...

. He is widely considered to be the first African explorer of America, but little is known about his early life except for one line in Cabeza de Vaca's chronicle: "The fourth urvivoris Estebanico, an Arab Negro from Azamor."

Plot

The story is narrated in the first person by Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam al-Zamori, a Moroccan slave who has been taken by his Spanish master, Andrés de Dorantes, on an expedition to the New World. The expedition lands in Florida in the vicinity of what is now

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

. Under the leadership of

Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; born 1470 or 1478, died 1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first sailed to the island of Jamaica (then Santiago) in 1510 as a soldier. Pánfilo participated in the conque ...

, the men leave their ships behind and travel inland to look for gold. As they journey northward, they face resistance by indigenous tribes, suffer from disease and starvation, and quarrel with one another. Within a year there are only four survivors:

, the treasurer of the expedition; Alonso del Castillo, a young nobleman, Andrés de Dorantes, one of the captains; and his Moroccan slave, Mustafa, whom the other three Spaniards refer to as Estebanico. Together, these four survivors travel westward, crossing the continent and living among indigenous tribes, reinventing themselves along the way as faith healers. Some years later, they are found by a party of Spanish slavers and brought to Mexico City, where they are asked to provide testimony about their journey—all except the slave, who tells his own story in the novel.

Style

''The Moor's Account'' is structured as a sixteenth-century Arabic travelogue. To give the impression of historical authenticity without making the novel inaccessible to contemporary readers, Lalami decided to use words that belong to the register of the 16th century, but are still in use today. She avoided contractions because they appear too modern. Since the narrator is of Arabic origin, features typical of Arabic texts are used. Thus, the narrator begins his account with a

basmala The (; also known by its opening words ; , "In the name of God in Islam, God") is the titular name of the Islamic phrase “In the name of God in Islam, God, Rahman (name), the Most Gracious, Rahim, the Most Merciful” (, ). It is one of ...

, notes the passage of time according to the Hijri calendar, uses Arabic units of measurement, and refers to places with their Arabic names. The dialogue in the novel lacks quotation marks in order to replicate the style of Arabic manuscripts of the 16th century. In the first half of the novel, ''The Moor’s Account'' alternates between two sets of stories: some chronicling the

Narváez expedition The Narváez expedition was a Spanish expedition started in 1527 that was intended to explore Florida and establish colonial settlements. The expedition was initially led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who died in 1528. Many more people died as the e ...

, and others narrating Mustafa’s life prior to his arrival in the New World.

Awards and nominations

*2015

finalist *2015

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

longlist *2015

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

winner *2015

Arab American Book Award The Arab American Book Award, established in 2006, is an annual literary award to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excelle ...

winner *2015

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards program in the United States honors published Black writers worldwide for literary achievement. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organization ...

winner *2014 Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction Director's Mention *2014 ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' Best Books *2014

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Best Books *2014

New York Times Notable Books of the Year ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

*2014 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' Best Fiction BooksKirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews

References

External links

Author's Book Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moor's Account, The 2014 American novels Novels by Laila Lalami Novels set in the 16th century Biographical novels Historical novels Arab-American novels American Book Award–winning works Moroccan diaspora in the United States Pantheon Books books Arab American Book Award winners