The Year of Passages
Straddling the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, this rich and unconventional novel provokes thought at the turn of every page. The tale is narrated by a North African author exiled to the United States because he has been condemned by religious fanatics after the publication of his novel entitled Dead Letters. Bensmaïa's knowledge of the history, the literature, and the philosophical ideas of our times underlies the novel without intruding into it directly.