Leila Sebbar
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Leïla Sebbar is the daughter of a French mother and an Algerian father. She spent her youth in colonial Algeria but now lives in Paris. She writes about the relationship between France and Algeria and often juxtaposes the imagery of both countries to show the difference in cultures between the two.
[edit] Author of "Silence on the Shores"
The book starts with the these words:
At the bend in the river, he fell.
Who will come to the other bank, to the white room where for so many days I have been alone, and whisper in my ear the prayer for the dead? Who will speak my mother's words to me?
The novel tells the story of the final day of a dying man who came from Algeria to France as a young man seeking work. It depicts the story of his youth and shows his viewpoint on the Muslim society and the "3 witches". The reader comes to realise that the man in the story is not fearful of those "witches" but just of dying alone, without another Muslim by his side to read to him the prayer of the dead.
Sebbar never actually names her characters to keep a sense of anonymity and mysteriousness and it could be said that it does not restrict the story to one personal account but it could relate to anyone and shows the very common viewpoint of those seeking asylum.
See also Leïla Sebbar
