Small Country by Gaël Faye

Small Country

Gaël Faye

Gaby’s ‘small country’ is his whole world and a world which is about to sever in spectacular war-torn fashion. This coming-of-age story is tender in its telling yet violent in its backdrop. For many Africans, this fictional story is a real-life reality, making this schoolboy narrative all the more poignant.

Extract
There were times when I felt as if politics did affect me. I was afraid, though. Afraid of how Papa would react if he heard me talking about these things. Afraid because I didn’t want to introduce chaos into my neatly ordered world, for this was about war and, in my mind, that could only mean sadness and misfortune.
Parallels
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  • Cities Without Palms by Tarek Eltayeb