THINGS HAPPEN

Touhfat Mouhtare

Bayard Éditions, 176 pages, 2025

🏅PRIX LITTÉRAIRE DE LA RENAISSANCE FRANÇAISE 2025

Why you should take a look at it:
√ Beautifully evocative and understated language 
√ A delicate reflection on invisibility, dignity, and joy
√ A complex and deeply human heroine

““In a sensitive and eminently political account, Touhfat Mouhtare traces the thread of a life marked by the invisible struggle shared by many immigrants: that of having to earn one's place.”

Sandra Nabavi, Le Nouvel Observateur

Originally from the Comoros, Touhfat Mouhtare comes to France to further her studies. One April morning, she fails to show up for the required appointment to renew her residence permit. A Freudian slip? Or, when faced with a mountain of soul-crushing administrative procedures, weariness simply outweigh her anxiety of being in an irregular situation? As an undocumented immigrant, she now faces a precarious reality defined by chronic anxiety, emotional insecurity and the need for constant vigilance. Is it better for her to stay or leave? Should she hide or opt to live openly?

 With her back against the wall, Touhfat Mouhtare experiences an existential crisis as she realizes that the fear of being discovered, the sense of urgency, and the habit of never allowing joy to take root are not all that unfamiliar. This recognition prompts her to rediscover her past, a happy childhood torn apart by forced departures and political instability.

From the Comoros to France via Burundi, Touhfat Mouhtare searches for her identity and peace of mind beyond exile and uprooting.  With Things Happen, she provides us an introspective and distinctive account of the immigrant experience that brings to life the dire circumstances that so many people living clandestinely must endure.

Born in the Comoros, Touhfat Mouhtare grew up between her island and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. She now lives In France where she came to pursue her studies. She is the author of two books published in the Comoros, Âmes suspendues (Coelacanthe, 2011) and Vert cru (KomEdit, 2018, special mention for the Prix du Livre insulaire at the Ouessant book fair), as well as a novel published in France, Le Feu du milieu (Le Bruit du monde, Prix Alain Spiess for second novels 2022).