penguin/Jelloun 2011 a palace in the old village, A5 183 Pages

an immigrant named Mohammed who has spent forty years in France and is about to retire. Taking stock of his life - his devotion to Islam and to his assimilated children - he decides to return to Morocco, where he spends his life's savings building the biggest house in the village and waits for his children and grandchildren to come be with him. A heartbreaking novel about parents and children, A Palace in the Old Village captures the sometimes stark contrasts between old- and new-world values, and an immigrant's abiding pursuit of home.