The Bottom of the Jar is an exploration of Laabi’s childhood in his native city of Fez – a journey undertaken through the eyes of Namoussa, the narrator, who serves as Laabi’s semi-fictional alter ego. Yet the novel is not only a personal testament of Laabi’s early years, but is a work of great social and political import; one that reflects on and evokes the charged atmosphere during the final days of French colonial occupation of Morocco and the painful road to independence. The Bottom of the Jar is an entertaining, warm and lyrical elegy.