Top ten books about dual identity

Hafsa Zayyan is a writer and dispute resolution lawyer based in London. She won the inaugural #Merky Books New Writers' Prize in 2019.

We Are All Birds of Uganda is her debut novel, inspired by the mixed background from which she hails. She studied Law at the University of Cambridge and holds a masters' degree from the University of Oxford.

At the Guardian Zayyan tagged ten of the best books about dual identity, including:

How to Be Both by Ali Smith

As the title hints, this novel tells two parallel stories: one half the story of Francesco, a sort-of resurrected time-traveller from the 15th century, who comes to observe George, a child living in present-day Cambridge dealing with a recent loss, who is the protagonist of the other half of the novel. A major theme is the experience of apparent opposites – including male and female, grief and joy, the past and future.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue