´Nos Richesses´

 

At the bookstore ´Les Vraies Richesses´ Max-Pol Fouchet, Camus, St. Exupéry and many more do come together either to discuss their works or just to plan the next literary launch. Inspired by the name of a work by Jean Giono - about a rural world about to disappear - the bookstore is writing an alternative history of the intellectual Algeria no one really bothered to explore.

Inspired partly by real stories - there is actually a bookstore with this name in Alger and some of the characters mentioned in the book, including Charlot, the creator of the project, back at the beginning of the 20th century - partly by the author´s own imagination, this book takes place on the backdrop of a world on the move: the WWII, the struggle for independence, the bloody conflict with France. 

The third novel by the Paris-based Algerian writer Kaouther Adimi, this book brings Algeria on the forefront of the literary discussion, but also is a testimony of the fascination of books, even on those who may not love reading. Ryad, the young man who is back to Alger trying to help clean up following the closure of the bookstore, or Abdallah, the last guardian of the bookstore and even Charlot himself, are far from being really bookish. But they do acknowledge the importance of ideas while being mesmerized by the fascination of living in the vicinity of them.

The book alternates between various timelines, not all necessarily equal in terms of content, but trying to put together a narrative covering over a century. Too much happened during those times, and in my opinion, the part related to WWII is the best represented, otherwise it is much left unsaid.

There are many details that the reader unfamiliar with the local Algerian history may want to further explore, but there is also a lot left for the fiction story as such. Nos Richesses is important for giving a literary voice to Algerian authors and Algeria in general, bringing the country and its historical and intellectual context on the literary map, in a time when diversity of literary voices is the most efficient soft diplomacy tool.

Rating: 3 stars