Straight from the Horse's Mouth — Meryem Alaoui

This hilarious, colorful portrait of a prostitute navigating life in modern Morocco introduces a promising new literary voice.

Jmiaa, a prostitute in Casablanca, lives alone with her daughter. A woman of strong character and quick wit, she doesn't hold back when describing the world around her: her lover Chaïba, a crude, wordless brute, or Halima, her depressed fellow prostitute who reads the Qur'an between clients, or Mouy, her mother with implacable moral standards who seems completely ignorant of her daughter's work. Then along comes a young woman, Chadlia--dubbed "Horse Mouth" by Jmiaa--who wants to make her first film about the life of this Casa neighborhood. She's looking for an actress...

In this breakout debut novel, Meryem Alaoui gives us a vibrant picture of daily life in a working-class Morocco where everyone copes with difficulties through vitality and resourcefulness.