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Alsace, 1944. Mathilde finds herself falling deeply in love with Amine Belhaj, a Moroccan soldier, billeted in her town, fighting for the French.
After the Liberation, Mathilde leaves France, following Amine to Morocco. But life here is unrecognizable to this brave and passionate young woman. Where she she once danced, bickered with her sister, her life is now that of a farmer's wife - with all the sacrifices and vexations that brings.
Suffocated by the heat, by her loneliness on the farm, by the mistrust she inspires as a foreigner and by the lack of money Mathilde grows restless. As Morocco's own struggle for independence grows daily, Mathilde and Amine find themselves caught in the crossfire . . .
This story of two nations at war, two cultures at loggerheads, and one family torn apart is as tenderly observed as it is devastatingly true
About the author
Leïla Slimani is the first Moroccan woman to win France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, which she won for Lullaby. A journalist and frequent commentator on women's and human rights, she is French president Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture. Leïla is also the chair of the International Booker Prize 2023 judging panel. Born in Rabat, Morocco,in 1981, she lives in Portugal.Sam Taylor is a novelist and literary translator. His previous novels have reached an international audience, and his award-winning translations include works by Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani and Marcel Proust. Born in England, Sam was a writer and editor at The Observer before moving to France. He now lives in the United States with his family.
Report
Slimani's writing has a tremendous evocative power: we see the earth, the house, the dust. We smell the sweet scent of oranges and the acrid smell of sweat. We feel the fear when the nationalist revolt rumbles all over Morocco . . . The Country of Others is a magnificent novel. La Presse
