num_pages: 216
description: An intimate heartbreaking autobiographical novel of an Algerian Muslim familys exile from home and unwelcoming reception in FranceThis moving tale of imprisonment and escape persecution and loss is narrated by the daughter of an alleged Harki an Algerian soldier who fought for the French during the Algerian War for Independence. It was the fate of such men to be twice exiled first in their homeland after the war and later in France where fleeing Harki families sought refuge but instead faced contempt discrimination and exclusion. Zahia Rahmani blends reality and imagination in her writing offering a fictionalized version of her own familys struggle. Lara Vergnauds beautiful translation from the French perfectly captures the voices and emotions of Rahmanis childhood in a foreign land. While the author delves deeply into the past she also indicts present-day France and Algeria. From the unique perspective of the daughter of an accused Harki she examines Frances complex and controversial history with its former colony and offers new insight into the French civil riots of 2005. She makes a stirring plea for understanding between generations and cultures and especially for an end to the destructive practice of condemning children for their fathers actions and beliefs.
language: English
title: France, Story of a Childhood
publisher: Yale University Press