Every two weeks we read a book written by a woman from a different country (to go along with the bi-weekly country bulletins). We are working through the countries in alphabetical order!

Our book club choice for Algeria is Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar.

In this stunning novel, Assia Djebar intertwines the history of her native Algeria with episodes from the life of a young girl in a story stretching from the French conquest in 1830 to the War of Liberation of the 1950s. The girl, growing up in the old Roman coastal town of Cherchel, sees her life in contrast to that of a neighboring French family, and yearns for more than law and tradition allow her to experience. Headstrong and passionate, she escapes from the cloistered life of her family to join her brother in the maquis' fight against French domination.

Djebar's exceptional descriptive powers bring to life the experiences of girls and women caught up in the dual struggle for independenceboth their own and Algeria's.

Buy the book on Better World Books or borrow from your local library!

We will use this discussion thread to chat about the book and the reading experience over the next couple of weeks!