This blinding absence of light
(Book)

English version of: Cette aveuglante absence de lumière.

Provides a fictional account of the horrific desert concentration camps in which King Hassan II of Morocco held his political enemies and the inhumane conditions in which survivors lived. Author Ben Jelloun worked closely with one of the survivors to create this fictionalized account, resulting in a novel that explores both the limitlessness of inhumanity and the impossible endurance of the human will.

Crafting real life events into narrative fiction, Ben Jelloun reveals the horrific story of the desert concentration camps in which King Hassan II of Morocco held his political enemies in underground cells with no light and only enough food and water to keep them lingering on the edge of death. Working closely with one of the survivors, Ben Jelloun narrates the story in the simplest of language and delivers a shocking novel that explores both the limitlessness of inhumanity and the impossible endurance of the human will.