A review by sarahrahrah
Small Country by Gaël Faye

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Heartbreaking and oh so beautifully written (I read the English translation by Sarah Ardizzone, but would like to reread it in French) 

I read the poem by Jacques Roumain that Madame Economopoulos gave me on the day of my departure:

If you come from a country, if you are born there, as what might be called a native by birthright, well then, that country is in your eyes, your skin, your hands, together with the thick hair of its trees, the flesh of its soil, the bones of its stones, the blood of its rivers, it's sky, it's flavor, it's men and women...

I used to think I was exiled from my country. But, in retracing the steps of my past, I have understood that I was exiled from my childhood. Which seems so much crueler.