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Her five daily prayers were like punctuation marks that divided up and gave meaning to her life. Each prayer had for her a distinct quality, just as different foods had their own flavours. (Page 3, Distant View of a Minaret,  in Distant View of a Minaret  by Alifa Rifaat) All fifty years, I felt, were shown in the footprints they had left round my eyes, which were still my best feature, and in the slackness round my chin (Page 17, Thursday Lunch, in Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat) Life is a web weaving a spider (Page 95, The Ex-Future Priest and His Would-be Widow, in Voices Made Night  by Mia Couto) Happiness stepped out of her and forgot to return (Page 83, Patanhoca the Lovesick Snake Catcher, in Voices Made Night by Mia Couto) I am a blind man who sees many doors (Page 48, So You Haven't Flown Yet,, Carlota Gentina, in Voices Made Night  by Mia Couto) The power of a minion is to make others feel even smaller, to tread on others j...

Title: Distant View of a Minaret Author: Alifa Rifaat Translator: Denys Johnson-Davies Genre: Fiction/Short Stories/Anthology Publishers: Heinemann (African Writers Series) Pages: 116 Year of First Publication: 1983 (in translation); 1987 (this edition) Country: Egypt For the Africa Reading Challenge Alifa Rifaat is a voice for women. A common theme that runs through this collection of fifteen short stories is the mistreatment of women by men, fellow women and the society. Dealing with these issues, death, frustrations and changes have been used as the vehicle through which the story is told. As a Muslim, Alifa Rifaat, speak not against the dictates of the Quran, as the call to prayer was a phrase that was used in almost all the stories. What Alifa seeks to do is to address the human interpretation of this sacred book, what have been added in patriarchal societies that benefit only individuals with dangling 'appendages'. What society has taken as the i...