Above All, Don't Look Back

Above All Dont Look Back follows the path of a young womanAminaasshe makes her way through a city a life and a sense of self that have beenravaged by an earthqu... » 

Above All Dont Look Back follows the path of a young womanAminaasshe makes her way through a city a life and a sense of self that have beenravaged by an earthquake. In this powerful novel inspired by a devastatingearthquake in northern Algeria in 2003 the acclaimed Algerian writer MaAssaBey skillfully interweaves descriptions of the earthquake with descriptions ofAminas family culture and country and her place within them. She leaves thereader to wonder whether Amina is fleeing the earthquake or something much morecomplex.Through prose that marries form and content Bey shows the fullbreadth of her talent. She goes beyond straightforward journalistic narrativeto represent the inner experience of a victim of a natural disaster. Thenovels nonlinear structure and deliberate incoherence plunge the reader into astate of disorientation that will especially resonate for survivors of othernatural disasters worldwide.In linking a particular place context and eventto themes of identity family and the relation of the individual to the groupand of religion to society Above All Dont Look Back explores psychologicaland social issues of universal relevance. CARAF Caribbean and AfricanLiterature Translated from the French «