Tropic of Violence
Nathacha Appanah, Geoffrey Strachan
£12.99
Out of stock
Description
Marie, a nurse on the island of Mayotte, adopts an abandoned baby and names him Moise, raising him as a French boy. As he grows up, Moise struggles with his status as an “outsider” and to understand why he was abandoned as a baby. When Marie dies, he is left alone, plunged into uncertainty and turmoil, ending up in the largest and most infamous slum on Mayotte, nicknamed “Gaza”.
Narrated by five different characters, Tropic of Violence is an exploration of lost youth on the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Shining a powerful light on problems of violence, immigration, identity, deprivation and isolation on this island that became a French departement in 2011, it is a remarkable, unsettling new novel that draws on the author’s own observations from her time on Mayotte.
Publisher Review
The hell of Mayotte finds its redemption in the novel's restrained, imaginative use of language -- Claire Devarrieux * Liberation * The strength and the elegance of this novel will take your breath away -- Marianne Payot * L'Express * A brief, beautiful, brutal portrait of this tiny island in the Indian Ocean -- Gladys Marivat * Le Monde * In the magnificent Tropic of Violence, Nathacha Appanah gives us a terrifying portrait of Mayotte -- Julien Bisson * Lire * This hard, harsh story will wring out your heart with its otherworldly poetry -- Xavier Houssin * Elle * A masterpiece -- Francois Busnel * La Grande Librairie *
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