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240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
As far as they were concerned, raising children was first and foremost a matter of making sure they lacked for nothing. If the kids could eat their fill, if they were suitably clothed and went to sleep in the warm, then it was a case of mission accomplished. It never occurred to them to tune in to their children’s emotions, to respect their personalities or nurture their creativity.All her life, Jamina kept a strong allegiance to Algeria. Each year, she'd pack up the family and return there to spend “holidays” with family back home. She even held out hope the kids might choose to begin their adult lives in Algeria. But it wasn't to be. To honour her 70th birthday, her children leased a cottage in the French countryside so the whole family could spend the holidays together. They ensured the cottage had a swimming pool, and bought a burkini for their Mother, hoping she might actually go into the water this time! As they lowered her very slowly into the pool, she began to laugh, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She loved it, she felt free, and was the happiest she had ever been!
Her home, and she understands this now, is where her kids are.4 “Family is everything” stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Born in a village in Algeria, Yamina is 70, and mother to Malika, Hannah, Imane and Omar, all now grown up as French citizens who love their country and lead their own lives. Yamina still misses Algeria with its fond memories, especially her beloved fig tree. She remembers loving going to school with her satchel on her back, but was forced to stop to help her father, and knitting and sewing, and teaching her siblings who all went on to do very well academically. She faced her new life as a wife in France with grace, calmness and determination. And without rancour. Even though she received absolutely no advice from anyone about what to expect from marriage. "Oui, devenir une femme, c'est brusque."
Yamina's gentle disposition does not prevent her from being treated with discourtesy, scorn and condescension. Such humiliation makes Hannah, the daughter who is the most political, almost explode with anger, while Yamina is "Ssh, It's not serious". But is this discretion a strength or a weakness?
Yet this is also a story of being uprooted, of colonialism, of escaping poverty, facing racism and of a terrible longing what was left behind. Yet in the end, Yamina, with fewer and fewer connections with Algeria, especially after her own parents die, comes to realise where exactly home actually is. It's wherever her family is. Faïza Guène has said elsewhere, 'I've spent a lot of time thinking about my identity. I would have preferred to spend more time thinking about my literature" . . . "That," she says, "is my real home."
Faïza Guène has written that the story of Yamina's family is a very French story. It's an essential part of the history of France. And this book is an essential part of the richness of French literature.
Read the French version of this review at lesliaisonsliteraires.co.uk