Mina Among the Shadows
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Translated from French by Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott.
Kerim Neto returns to his hometown, a city on Africa's Atlantic coast, to search for Mina, his former model, lover, and muse. But Mina has disappeared. He combs the streets and byways he has known, hoping to find her. He questions his old friends from the theatre, with whom he and Mina had performed and mocked the country's army and dictators. But these friends have now joined the establishment, they are now imams, preachers, and police informers.
Which Mina will Kerim find? Does she hide behind a veil? Or sing of the risen Christ? Will she bear the marks of torture? He has returned to a nation steeped in fear, where power lies in the hands of evil forces; where religions and superstition lull the minds, as the ancient gods look on.
Mina Among the Shadows is a hymn to immutable desire and love, the power of art and beauty, and the courage of ordinary men and women.
Edem Awumey
Goncourt Prize finalist Edem Awumey was born in Togo in 1975. His first novel, Port-Mélo (2006), was published in France by Gallimard, and was winner of one of Africa's most distinguished literary awards. Les Pieds sales was long-listed for the Goncourt in 2009. He lives in Gatineau, Quebec.
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