A breathless story of love and survival in war-torn Algeria-past and
present
The devil has entered our country, and his footprints are
everywhere.
Nine-year-old Jallal is old enough to know that his life in Algeria is
precarious at best. Having run away from home, he survives by selling
peanuts and single cigarettes on the street. The proposal by the elderly
Swiss woman named Anna is shocking and preposterous: go to the mountains
with her, as a translator, so she can find her lost lover from decades
ago and pray over the graves of their murdered children.
Anna and Jallal's journey is wrought with danger and unspeakable
tragedy. It was under similar circumstances that Anna first met the Arab
Nasreddine. Ousted from the traveling circus where she performed as a
trapeze artist, she had little choice but to accept Nasreddine's
dangerous offer to live with him in a makeshift tent. But it was here,
amid poverty, racism, and terrifyingly random violence, that they fell
in love.
A best seller in France, The Lovers of Algeria is an unflinchingly
candid story about a country where terrorism and government corruption
are commonplace. As Anna and Nasreddine, beaten by time and memory,
circle each other in Algeria, Anouar Benmalek shows with heart-wrenching
detail that love can endure even the most inhuman conditions.
A Lannan Translation Series Selection
