28 October 2007

Garçon Manqué by Nina Bouraoui

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Nina Bouraoui gives better voice to the child lost in between two worlds than any other contemporary writer I have read so far. Algiers - Rennes; this novel consists of two parts - a childhood in Northern Africa and teenage years in Europe. During these years when little French Algerian girl Yasmina becomes Brio, Ahmed and finally Nina.

Yasmina's monologues are aimed at her best friend in Algeria: Amine. Her closest, the boy she loves, the Algeria she will miss. The one she confides in, the only one to understand and share the knowledge and the burden of being a mix between two countries at war. But in his abscence.

I can't believe neither this novel nor Poupée Bella has been translated into English. Please read it in French or Swedish.

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