Ghazi got one letter from him. He wrote back a few times, but there was no reply. One day, he read in an old newspaper at the prison library that tourists from Europe had been kidnapped in the Sahara. The government said terrorists kidnapped them. They asked for money; the Swiss wanted to give it. But the exchange never happened. But why? he wondered. Didn’t they want the money? There was always something missing, too much that made no sense, in anything he read. Into that blurriness, Aziz had gone.

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the generosity and faith of Algerians. Portions of the novel are based on government records Algerians provided to me; for the risks they undertook, I am particularly grateful. I am indebted to Ali Djebli for his patient schooling in Arabic; even so, all errors herein are solely mine. For her understanding of the Algerian predicament and her loyal companionship, I would like especially to thank Kim Sullivan. Leon Wieseltier read and commented on early drafts; I was inspired by his encouragement. My debt to Katherine Boo, trusted reader, is great. I am obliged to loving readers: L. A. Gladus Adams, T. Taylor Adams, Meredith Breitbarth and Ned Rifkin.

About the Author

LORRAINE ADAMS

HARBOR

Lorraine Adams, a Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, was educated at Princeton University and was a graduate fellow at Columbia University, where she received a master’s degree in literature. She lives in New York City and is at work on her second novel.

Copyright Page

FIRST VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2005

Copyright © 2004 by Lorraine Adams

Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks and Vintage Contemporaries is a trademark of
Random House, Inc.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. The author’s use of names of actual persons, living or dead, and actual places is incidental to the purposes of the plot and is not intended to change the entirely fictional character of the work.