This reading group is dedicated to De nos frères blessés (Tomorrow They Won’t Dare to Murder Us ) by Joseph Andras.
In 1956, 30-year-old Fernand Iveton planted a bomb in the factory where he worked in Algiers. Pro Algerian independence and a communist activist, the act was only ever meant to be symbolic- placed well away from the workshops, it was an act of sabotage. Arrested before the bomb had a chance to detonate, he was nonetheless sentenced to death for his actions, making him the only European prisoner to be guillotined during the Algerian war.
Whilst the novel recounts Iveton’s detention and trial, as well as his mistreatment at the hands of the French authorities, Andras also casts his eye back over his life – his childhood in Algeria, meeting the woman he loved, the loss of his childhood best friend; humanising a man vilified for so long by the press and the authorities. Andras seeks justice through literature, bringing to light moments of French colonial history which remain glossed over to this day, in a lyrical and moving elegy to a life lost in the fight for freedom.
You can find information on the book in English on the British publisher’s website.
Please note that the author won’t be present in person.
Check the other Reading Groups