The Earthen Fortress
The Earthen Fortress is the name of a village near Granada and the novel deals with a critical time in Arab and Western history: the fall of Islamic civilisation in Andalucia and the ensuing inquisition, torture and forced conversion of Muslims. The author weaves his story of generations over three centuries around the family of one man, Mohammed de Mulina. It begins before the fall of Granada in 1492 and ends with the crisis of the family after their emigration to Tetouan, Morocco. Having been thrown out of Spain because they are Arab Muslims, they now face persecution in Tetouan as Spanish Christians. Although the novel is set in the distant past, it cannot be read in isolation from current Arab realities, especially since the Arab Spring and the resulting sectarian wars and persecution of innocent religious groups, just like that of the Moriscos.