HODP in Women’s Review of Books
The July/August issue of the Women’s Review of Books includes a piece on my debut book, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, and Assia Djebbar’s novel Children of the New World, which finally appeared here in the U.S. in a translation by Marjolijn de Jager, forty years after its original publication. Unfortunately, this (very perceptive) review is not available online. Still, I couldn’t resist including at least this bit from Nadia Boudidah Falfoul’s piece:
In contrast to Djebar’s patriotic men and women who fight a common enemy and work toward a common dream, Lalami’s isolated characters share only their desperation. Although the French colonizer left Morocco decades ago, these people are estranged and displaced in their own country. Djebar’s fellagas, who sacrifice their lives for their country, have been replaced by Lalami’s harragas, who sacrifice their lives to flee it.
More here.