I hope you all are doing well and enjoying summertime. I have compiled a list of books below that might make great summer reads. All these books evoke a great sense of place they are set in, from warm Algeria, Tunisia to the mountainous Alps, unknown dystopian land, sunny hills of San Francisco and Nigeria, Western Sahara, Italy, Greece, Portugal and the cold landscapes of Greenland. As usual I tried to choose books written by writers from various countries and cultures: Algeria, Belgium, Switzerland, Nigeria, Libya, Taiwan, USA, Mexico, Togo, France and Tunisia. I hope you will find something interesting in the list below.
1 A BOOKSHOP IN ALGIERS BY KAOUTHER ADIMI
A Bookshop in Algiers by the Algerian writer Kaouther Adimi is a literary feast. This book might be small in size, just under 150 pages, but it is dense with captivating literally anecdotes related to both Algerian and French titans of literature as well as with many unique perspectives on the history and culture of Algeria throughout the 20th century. This book offers a moving portrayal of Algeria, its capital, Algiers and its inhabitants. A Bookshop in Algiers is told in two timelines: one follows the life of the extraordinary literary figure in the French literature, Edmond Charlot (1915 – 2004), from the 1930s Algiers when he began his career as a bookseller and publisher through WW2, the 1950s / 60s Algerian War of Independence and the 1990s Algerian Civil War; the other plot line is set in the contemporary Algiers of 2017 where a young Frenchman of the Algerian origin, Ryad is hired to clear out the present day bookshop called Les Vraies Richesses in order to make a way for a new bakery. In real life, Les Vraies Richesses Bookshop was founded by Edmond Charlot in the 1930s Algiers.Charlot was the one who ‘discovered’ and published the first books by Albert Camus and had close literary relationships with other writers of that era such as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Andre Gide and Jean Giono. Charlot is portrayed as an idealist, humanist, dreamer, and bibliophile who strongly believed in the power of storytelling as a path to peace and unity. A Bookshop in Algiers is a truly delightful read. Kaouther Adimi paid homage not only to Edmond Charlot but also to the art of storytelling, literature, and bookshop as a place of a great importance for local communities, of cultural exchange and freedom of thought. Here, a bookshop is more than just a physical place selling books – it is an idea, a magnet for those who dare to dream.
2 I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN BY JACQUELINE HARPMAN
I Who Have Never Known Men is notable for its introspective, philosophical and thought-provoking exploration of human nature under extreme circumstances in a dystopian setting. The book raises philosophical questions about solitude, freedom, self-discovery, human condition, identity, womanhood, female body, intimacy, euthanasia, individualism, suffering, aging, degenerative illnesses, the attitude of resignation towards life and the attitude of constant curiosity and independent thinking, the concept of humanity as the need for understanding, and the consequences of isolation. The narrative centres around forty women including the youngest one who narrates the story. The women were kept in the underground bunker. Among these women there is our nameless narrator who never had known any other life than the one in the bunker as she has been imprisoned for as long as she could remembered. Her lived experience was stripped to the existential fundamentals. Her nature is introspective. Due to the inexplicable events the guards in the bunker left immediately once the sirens started wailing and doors to bunker opened. This new reality for the narrator was something unfamiliar, different to what she had known. She found out that she enjoyed the physical solitude and does not like the human touch. She also learnt “she did not need company. She had the feeling that she’d enjoy being on her own.” Her desire for solitude and independence was strong and unique among the women. The nameless female narrator represents the independent thinking and choosing her own path to follow, regardless of how less travelled that path would be. Set in the mountains, this is a captivating novel to read especially during solitary summer breaks. FULL REVIEW
3 LIKE A MULE BRINGING ICE CREAM TO THE SUN BY SARAH LADIPO MANYIKA
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun by the Nigerian writer, Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a life-affirming novel exploring ageing, personal independence, debilitating illnesses that affect us as we grow older, loneliness, friendship, loss, immigration, the importance of books in one’s life and the position of older women in the society. This novel is also an ode to the city of San Francisco which the main protagonist Morayo finds “gentler than most”. She treasures this city “with its bright morning sun and brilliant blue skies (…), the people of San Francisco so often quirky, but often friendly that makes it feel like home to [her].” We meet the main protagonist of this novel, a 75-year-old Nigerian woman Morayo da Silva when she lives in a small flat in San Francisco. Fiercely independent with a cosmopolitan outlook on life, a former professor of English and literature, Morayo has a profound love for her books and considers writers her friends. She has been living in a rented one-bedroom flat for the last twenty years and knows “all the comings and goings” of the building she lives in. She drives a vintage 993 Porsche, loves wearing pearls not only on special occasions but also when running daily errands. In her wardrobe there is “a stack of brightly coloured fabrics”, and the older she gets she more enjoys “wearing [Nigerian] native attire” in vibrant shades of pink and blue which reminds her the smells of Lagos markets. Morayo is probably one of the most devouted bibliophiles in literature. She reminds me of another literary character, a 72-year-old Aaliya from An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine who was a voracious reader and has a profound love for books. As for Morayo, she loves the company of her literary friends and has a special bond with her own library, her own books. Throughout the novel the memories of her childhood and younger years in her hometown of Jos in Nigeria, and then life in Lagos, India, London, New York are shared. We learn more about Morayo and her life and how she is perceived not only directly from her but also through the stories and accounts of other people, her neighbours, former students, her former husband, a homeless woman, people she befriended during her stay in hospital. All these characters also often come from immigrant background trying to find their place in the world. Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is a portrayal of a woman full of life and plans for the future, who is not restricted by social norms or outdated concepts of what people of certain age should or should not be doing. This is a very pleasurable read – I thoroughly enjoyed it. FULL REVIEW
4 STORIES OF THE SAHARA BY SANMAO
Sanmao belongs to the 20th century most iconic women. She was a writer, traveler, and university teacher born in China in 1943 and then raised in Taiwan. As an adult she travelled extensively across Spain, Germany, Central America and spent a few years living in the Western Sahara where she closely observed the native Sahrawi culture. Stories of the Sahara provide an unique insight into Sanmao’s and her husband, Jose’s life mainly in Western Sahara during the 1970s. Since its publication this book has captivated and inspired millions of Chinese readers for decades. It offers an interesting perspective of North Africa from a non-Western female traveller’s view. We learn about Sanmao’s life in the desert, her beautiful relationship with her Spanish husband. Through her words we witness a free spirit of Sanmao, her lust for adventure and refreshing wondrous curiosity of the world around her. Stories of the Sahara are partly memoir, partly travelogue, filled with warmth, wit, compassion and unique observations, written during the times when many women would have only dreamt of this kind of adventure. Sanmao’s life was interesting and tragic at the same time. I highly encourage you to read about her life prior to reading this book (a short bio will do). Stories of Sahara are such an engaging, immensely enjoyable and timeless read. Sanmao gave us an extraordinary glimpse into the Sahrawi people and their way of life. Above all this, Stories of Sahara constitute a great portrait of the quest of one individual to locate their place in the multifaceted world and a mesmerising depiction of loneliness of being an outsider. Sanmao has become a symbol of freedom and independence for many people. I can’t express how much I loved Stories of the Sahara. Highly recommended! It’s a great book for a gift to those who are interested in travel and adventure. Great summer read!
5 A HOUSE OF MY OWN: STORIES FROM MY LIFE BY SANDRA CISNEROS
“I feel fortunate at least to open books and be invited to step in, if that book shelters me and keeps me warm, I know I’ve come home.”
A House of My Own is an amazing memoir which consists of a collection of various essays, interviews, articles written by Cisneros between 1984 and 2014. The vignettes included in the book reflect her journey to find a sense of belonging and constitute the quest to find a place called home. All texts are accompanied by numerous black and white pictures which add to the richness of the reading experience. This book depicts so many subjects. There are references to many writers that Sandra met in her life, the exploration of the world through travel while she was constantly short of money, the expectations towards women in certain cultures not only because of outside social norms but also expectations imposed by one’s family. Reading this memoir, we travel the world with Sandra; we go to Chicago, the place of her birth, to Hydra in Greece, to Mexico where her dad was from and where her mum’s ancestors came originally from; we go to Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, we go to France, and Spain. There are wonderfully evocative descriptions of the Mexican folklore, insightful reflections on women’s position in the society. The idea of coming from many different cultures, different to the ones that your parents came from and making connections through language, food, and traditions is portrayed in such a rich, multi-faceted manner. It is a wonderful soul-soothing read. FULL REVIEW
6 A MONTH IN SIENA BY HISHAM MATAR
“Then we sat in silence that seemed touched by an oblique sort of sadness, as though time itself were a burden that had to be carried doubtfully and with a quiet show of regret in case fate might decide to double the load. We said goodbye”
A Month in Siena by the American-Libyan author, Hisham Matar explores the relation between life and art. It is also a meditation full of beautiful observations on grief, loss, solitude, belonging, linguistic identity, friendships as well as our relationship with our fathers. The book is full of references to art, music, and literature (Ibn Battuta, Montaigne, Camus, Ibn Khaldun). Art here constitutes a refuge for one’s emotions and the way one can connect with oneself. Siena as a city offers “that unobservable emptiness” that many might have sought for many years. A Month is Siena is a short, gentle read, with accompanying illustrations that Matar reflects on. I highly recommend this book so that you can join Hisham Matar on one of his daily walks and visits to the museums and look at the medieval paintings. While Siena and its art offered solace to this sensitive writer in a time of the great sadness, then his book is incredibly soul soothing for the reader and brings up calmness, even to the most cynical heart. FULL REVIEW
7 THE WALL BY MARLEN HAUSHOFER
The Wall is an absorbing, contemplative, nuanced and compelling dystopian novel focusing on the meaning of freedom, solitude, written word, one’s connection to the natural world and animals, memory, the power of nature, survival, the value of menial work, one’s compulsion to understand the world, the position of women in the society and their freedom to live according to their own norms outside of the widely accepted social structures, and on the women experiencing solitude without judgement. There is a peaceful quality about this novel defined by the spareness of its narrative and a sense of occhiolism. Writing feels very modern, with unemotional descriptions of all day long menial tasks. The Wall is a story of an unnamed woman in her 40s who finds herself cut off from the rest of the world by the sudden appearance of the wall made of unknow material that separates a part of the forest from the rest of the world. This occurrence takes place during the narrator’s visit to her cousin, Luise’s and her husband, Hugo’s lodge in the Austrian Alps. She was unable to find an explanation for the appearance of the wall and was not sure if only the valley or the whole country had been affected by this disaster. Thanks to Hugo the narrator had provisions that would keep her through some time, and a lifetime’s supply of wood. that allowed her to survive. She also had their dog, Lynx who became an integral part of her new life along with two cats and the cow. They became her new family. At the time when the wall appeared the narrator was widowed for two years, and her two daughters were almost grown up.The appearance of the wall forced the narrator to immediately accept her new reality allowing her to move away from the known social structures. It was not only a physical object but also a psychological frontier. It erased her previous life. Once the wall appeared she immediately built home with her animals, her life was ruled by care for them and governed by the seasons, harvests, she did not have to rush anywhere.. For me The Wall constitutes the allegorical tale on women experiencing solitude without judgement which seems possible only when the world comes to a standstill and there is no one there to judge them. It is an absorbing read, great during the summer break in the mountains! FULL REVIEW
8 MICHEL THE GIANT. AN AFRICAN IN GREENLAND BY TETE-MICHEL KPOMASSIE
Michel the Giant by the Togolese writer and adventurer, Tete-Michel Kpomassie is an extraordinary book about a long journey that Michel took from his home in Togo via Europe to reach Greenland, the land of eternal ice he had become fascinated with as a child and dreamt of visiting. In 1950s when he was a teenager, Michel found a book in one of the church bookshops in Togo. This book was titled The Eskimos from Greenland and Alaska. He became extremely interested in the remote lands and in 1958 as a 17 year old boy he started his journey, first along the western coast of Africa reaching Marseilles in France in 1963 and then heading for the land of ice that he reached in 1965. Once in Greenland he immersed himself in the life and customs of the local people for next two years. During his time there he found out that Greenland was not just the land of happiness as he initially envisaged. It was a place like any other with its problems and issues which was somehow exoticized by the young Michel. Undoubtedly, Michel the Giant is a love letter to Greenland, its people and their way of life from the perspective of a Togolese explorer and adventurer. I highly recommend it – this is truly a fascinating read.
9 THE TILTING WORLD BY COLETTE FELLOUS
The Tilting World by the Tunisian – French writer, Colette Fellous is a beautiful, enriching book, an ode to the author’s home country, Tunisia, infused with lyricism, engulfed in a veil of melancholy and sadness, full of profound reflections on the meaning of home, forced exile, belonging, multiple identities, and loss as well as trauma, violence and history shaping one’s life. The form in which This Tilting World is written is unique; it is a combination of an autobiography and a novel, but it is neither just a novel nor just an autobiography. It is an elegy, a witness statement, a memoir, a passage from the history book where the narrator emphatically scrutinises different stages of her life – childhood, adolescence, adulthood – while living in Tunisia, and then in the exile in France. Through giving the voice to people who are already gone, Colette Fellous takes us on a Proustian journey of self-reflection on the meaning of home as well as individual and generational trauma. Tunisia of the narrator’s childhood is the land of beauty, enchantment, light, warmth, vibrant colours, delicious dishes which is juxtaposed with Tunisia of her adulthood, the land of political turmoil and deterioration, a surge of radicalism, terrorism, emotional suffocation. France, even though far from perfect, is portrayed as a guarantor of safety and dignity for the Jewish community in Tunisia. FULL REVIEW
10 NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON BY PASCAL MERCIER
Night Train to Lisbon delights with the written word, very vivid descriptions of the places and characters. The author takes us on a long but a wonderful journey full of thoughts and insightful analysis on death, loneliness, courage and friendship looking at the surrounding world through the prism of many people and from a different time perspective. It is like having a long-awaited meeting with a fellow human being whom one listens with an unsurpassed curiosity and fascination. Pascal Mercier offers an astonishing philosophical narrative about the possibility of truly understanding another person, the ability of words to define our very selves and making a journey into the depths of our shared humanity. Night Train to Lisbon compels a reader to look inwards. I would recommend this book to a sensitive reader who enjoys philosophical meanderings about the meaning of life, literature, existentialism, ideas, words and identity. FULL REVIEW
