Leïla Slimani, the renowned Franco-Moroccan writer and multiple award winner (including the prestigious Prix Goncourt), returns with the final volume of her The Country of Others trilogy, titled I Will Carry the Fire. This novel continues the story of Amin and Mathilde’s family, this time focusing on their daughter Aïcha, her husband Mehdi, and their children, Mia and Inès. The narrative spans a vast period, from Inès’ birth to Mia’s tumultuous youth, all the way to Amin’s death and Mehdi’s w...
Paul Auster's novel Baumgarten, published just a few months before the death of the renowned American writer, serves as the culmination of his long literary career, rich in bestsellers – let us mention New York Trilogy, and Moon Palace – which have permanently established him among the greatest authors of world literature in the past forty years. The novel's multi-layered narrative space is built around the premature death of the protagonist's wife, Anna. Baumgarten compares this tragic even...
"Houris" by Kamel Daoud: Finally, a Worthy Goncourt Prize
After several disappointing years, the Goncourt Prize finally honors a novel that truly deserves the recognition. The jury has given us a real gift by shining a light on a major author of our generation, still too little known to the general public. With Houris, Kamel Daoud delivers an engaged novel, teeming with symbols and hidden meanings, a work that can be read on multiple levels. Admittedly, the first pages are written in a style that is a bit too baroque for my taste, but very quickly, ...
