Algiers Bay, Louis Gardel

The narrator was born in Algeria when it was French. He is emerging from adolescence as the war of independence begins. One evening, facing the Bay of Algiers, he is struck by the certainty that the world in which he grew up is doomed to disappear. But, at fifteen, clear-sightedness is an encumbering virtue. He prefers the impulses of his age: trying to charm girls, discussing with Solal, a classmate and chosen brother, becoming passionate about Proust thanks to a dazzling teacher who, outside of school, conducts mysterious activities, fishing with Bouarab on Surcouf beach, discovering that people are never what you think they are. However, the violence of events accelerates. How to resist? In this learning process, Zoé, his grandmother, accompanies him. Generous, she remains as close to President Steiger, the leader of the settlers, as to the Arab boy with whom she shares her morning coffee. She moves forward, with her life force, without lamenting over a lost paradise.

Louis Gardel was born in Algiers and lives in Paris. He has published eight novels with Seuil, including Fort Saganne, La Maison du Guerrier, L'Aurore des bien-aimés. He has also written a dozen films for cinema and television.