Photo of the Group by the Side of the River
Publisher
:
Actes Sud
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782742789306
Number of pages
:
333
Description
***Rights sold to Germany***
***Named best French novel of 2010 by the magazine LIRE***
"Dongala may be the most accomplished novelist from Africa since Chinua Achebe."—Kirkus Reviews
A group of women in Africa decide one day to stand up for their rights . . . and risk the consequences. Photo of the Group by the Side of the River is a powerful novel from the author of the critically acclaimed The Fire of Origins.
Méréana, a young African woman, did well in school, but that didn’t make her hard life easier. She was pregnant, at seventeen, and married the father. Some years later, the marriage turned sour and she found herself with their two children as well as those of her dead sister to look after. In desperation she took the only job available to her and other unfortunate women—breaking rocks for gravel by the river.
One day the women learn that the President has decided to build a new airport, and that the enterprise will need a great deal of gravel. The women, weary of always being victims, seize the opportunity and decide to raise their price for the sacks of gravel they sell. Méréana is chosen to be the group’s spokesperson. When the truck drivers arrive to pick up the gravel, they are met with the unexpected request for more money. A fight breaks out when they refuse to pay the new price, but the men are far outnumbered by the women and leave humiliated. The women, who have won few battles in their lives, rejoice and a photo is taken to help them remember that momentous day. Their joy, however, is short-lived. The men return with armed forces and are ready to fight; many of the women are injured and some are sent to prison. They have lost the battle, but won so much more. This group of women, who had known only poverty, war, and sexual and physical oppression, forms a collective force that gives them hope for a brighter future.
Emmanuel Dongala, with his striking portrayal of these women’s lives, lays bare the ugly politics and unfair behavior toward women in contemporary Africa. He poignantly describes Méréana’s thoughts as she wonders if there is a worse place on the planet than this continent called Africa . . .
Author
Emmanuel Dongala :
Emmanuel Dongala was, until 1997, dean of Brazzaville University in the Congo Republic, a professor of chemistry, and a writer honored in France with the rank of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. Because of a violent civil war, he fled Africa, with the help of Philip Roth, and became a professor of chemistry and Francophone African Literature at Bard College. His works have been translated into several languages, and his novel Johnny chien méchant (Le Serpent à Plumes, 2002) was made into the movie, Johnny Mad Dog. Le feu des origines was published by Albin Michel in 1987 and in English by Lawrence Hill Books in 2001.
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