Small Country, by Gaël Faye (2018)
Small Country is a semi-autobiographical novel of Gabriel, a young boy growing up in Burundi in the 1990s. He had an idyllic childhood, living in Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi to a French diplomat father and a Tutsi Rwandan mother. Most of his closest young friends also had white fathers and Black mothers. His life is sheltered from the politics brewing in his country.
As a 10-year old boy, he spent his days stealing mangos from neighbors’ trees and selling them back to tree’s owners. He is oblivious to the rising tensions erupting in Rwanda, other than the whispers he hears from his parents.
His mother is a Rwandan refugee and has family still living in her home country. She worries about her native country. Her younger brother decided to return to Rwanda to fight for the Tutsi, who are being slaughtered by the Hutus. Gabriel becomes aware of conflict when his family visits their Rwandan family to attend his uncle’s wedding. While there, he eavesdrops and hears his aunt describing the violence and genocide of Tutsis.
The violence knows no borders and erupts in Burundi, too. Gabriel recalls the first democratic election of the country’s president in June 1993. He was the country’s first Hutu president and had hoped to smooth relations between the Hutus and Tutsi in the country. When he was assassinated 3 months later, the country erupted into a civil war. The political climate had a profound impact on Gabriel. His young friends are anxious to take up the “cause” and defend their neighborhood. Gabriel retreats into books and befriends and elderly Greek widow who has a house filled with books.
The civil war forced its citizens to choose sides. Violence and death are all around and curfews are in place. Young Gabriel is suddenly faced with a terrible choice that will end his childhood with which ever option he selects.
This is a small novel, but very powerful.
Read: July 25, 2020
5 Stars
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