The Country of Others

Review 'Slimani writes devastatingly perceptive character studies.' - New York Times Book Review 'Leila Slimani is one of literary France's brightest stars.' - The Times Product Description 'A panoramic, ambitious tale.' The Times 'Exceptional.' Salman Rushdie 'Powerful.' Christine Mangan 'Captivating.'Elle 1944. After the Liberation, Mathilde leaves France to join her husband in Morocco. But life here is unrecognisable to this brave and passionate young woman. Her life is now that of a farmer's wife - with all the sacrifices and vexations that brings. Suffocated by the heat, by her loneliness on the farm and by the mistrust she inspires as a foreigner, Mathilde grows increasingly restless. As Morocco's struggle for independence intensifies, Mathilde and her husband find themselves caught in the crossfire. From the internationally bestselling author, The Country of Others is perfect for fans of Elena Ferrante, Tracy Chevalier, and Maggie O'Farrell. Review Dazzling - ambitious, stylish, deeply evocative, and with such clever and intimate characterisation. A terrific achievement. -- Emma Stonex The world of this novel - Morocco after World War II, leading up to the revolt against French colonialism - is beautifully created. Personal life, social life, everyday life spring vividly from the page, and we feel deeply for the family caught in the middle of the conflict of history. An exceptional, powerful novel from this justly celebrated writer. -- Salman Rushdie A powerful and compelling family saga-about women and subjugation, otherness and belonging, and the often conflicting loyalty to both family and country-written with a deftness that has come to define Leila Slimani's writing. It will no doubt resonate in the reader's mind long after the final sentence is read. -- Christine Mangan A narrative at once richly layered and deceptively simple. I loved it and didn't want it to end. -- Claire Messud Slimani excels at telling this wide-ranging story, expertly folding themes of love, loss, alienation, gender, and belonging into a complex narrative. ― Vogue Slimani's writing has a tremendous evocative power: we see the earth, the house, the dust. We smell the sweet scent of oranges and the acrid smell of sweat. We feel the fear when the nationalist revolt rumbles all over Morocco . . . The Country of Others is a magnificent novel. ― La Presse A powerful family saga. -- Le Parisien A fearless writer. -- Evening Standard As wild and lush as a wildflower meadow . . . It will be fascinating to see what the next instalment - set in the late 60s - brings. ― Observer Lays bare women's intimate, lacerating experience of war . . . Mathilde's journey in The Country of Others is a rite of passage as much through language and motherhood as through war. In Sam Taylor's seamless, poetic translation, Slimani masterfully captures these nuanced shifts. -- Meena Kandasamy ― New York Times While the prose reaches beyond the saga's domestic setting to illuminate questions of politics and power, this is a family drama at heart . . . This is writing that uses a microscope to examine the cosmos and a telescope to survey a family meal. It is highly enjoyable, and dazzlingly fresh. ― i What's new about this book is the sense of a world beyond those passions, one that's been realised with sympathy and skill . . . it does impress with the depth of its moral imagination. It's what you might, if you were feeling provocative, call a novel for adults: one that doesn't grind axes, or preach, or tally up right and wrong, but simply explains that to know all isn't necessarily to forgive all. ― The Times The book's chief success is its depiction of the historical context, particularly the clash of Arab and European cultures, which comes to life through the everyday activities of Mathilde and her husband Amine . . . Slimani is excellent on female subjugation in Arab culture [and] realistic details pepper the narrative. ― Irish Times Slimani create