Antigua & Barbuda - Mr. Potter

Book #5: Mr. Potter - Jamaica Kincaid

"In this luminous, bewitching new novel, Jamaica Kincaid tells the story of an ordinary man, his century, and his home. The island of Antigua comes vibrantly to life under the gaze of Mr. Potter, an illiterate taxi chauffeur who makes his living driving a navy blue Hillman along the wide open roads that pass the only towns he's ever seen and the graveyard where he will be buried. The sun shines squarely overhead, the ocean lies on every side, and suppressed passion fills the air. 

Kincaid conjures up a moving picture of Mr. Potter's youth - beginning with memories of his father, a poor fisherman, and his mother, who committed suicide - and the outside world, that presses in on his life. Within these confines, Mr. Potter struggles to live at ease: to buy his own car, to have girlfriends, to shake off the encumbrance of his many daughters, one of whom will return to Antigua after he dies, to tell his story with equal measures distance and sympathy." 

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It took me a while to get into this book. I had trouble with the ebb and flow of the writing. Kincaid's writing is almost more poetry than prose, and the sentence structure definitely takes some time and focused attention at first. But this is one of the reasons I wanted to take this literary journey - I wanted to challenge myself to read beyond the bounds of books I would normally select. And when I encounter writing styles that give me pause, I want to stop and ask myself why. Is that me? My expectations? My white American ideas of writing norms? This book made me take that step back. And once I did, and I got over myself a bit, I enjoyed the journey.

Algeria- What the Day Owes The Night

Book #4: What the Day Owes the Night - Yasmina Khadra

"Younes is still an impressionable young boy when his family loses everything an dis forced to move to the Algerian slum of Jenane Jato. His father is an overly proud man who refuses help from his wealthy brother, Mahi. But life in the city is difficult, and he grudgingly agrees to let Younes live with Mahi to give him a chance at life. 

Mahi, a pharmacist, is married to a Christian woman, Germaine, and they have no children. Both long for a child of their own. Younes is the answer to their prayers, and they welcome him into their home with open arms. Germaine renames him Jonas, and so life begins in the affluent European town of Rio Salado. 

Despite the overwhelming love of Germaine and Mahi, and a unique friendship between him and three other boys in Rio Salado, Younes never really fits in. But life is good, and the four friends form an enduring bond that nothing will shake - not even the Algerian war. 

But when Emilie arrives, an epic love story is set in motion that will challenge the boys' friendship. Suddenly Younes is forced to confront the burden of choosing between two worlds - Algerian or European; loyal or selfish; surrendering to fate or taking control of his destiny. 

Set against the Algerian war of independence, this story is more than just a love story. It examines with powerful compassion and empathy the rifts between lovers, family and friends who love one country, but in so many different ways." 

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Originally, I picked this book because I thought it had a female author. My list up to this point has been male-dominated, and I wanted to even it out a bit. It turns out that Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul, who adopted a female name in order to avoid military censorship. I was a little disappointed when I discovered this, but once I began reading, my misgivings faded away quickly.

This book is, quite simply, excellent. As with many other countries, I knew nothing about Algeria going in. The Algerian war of independence was fought between France and the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) from 1954-1962. In 1962, 900,000 European-Algerians fled to France within just a few months. Prior to that, they made up the aristocracy of Algeria. The Muslims, who were a majority (Algeria is 99% Arab-Berber today), were "othered" by the French-Algerians. 

This book is about Younes, a Muslim boy whose immediate family lost their farm and moved into a city slum. After being taken in by a rich uncle and his Catholic wife, Younes (then Jonas) lived among the European aristocracy, but was always pulled back towards his Muslim roots. Add in an epic love story, and, well...what's not to love?