Yamina Taleb is approaching her seventieth birthday. Alternating fragments from Yamina's Algerian past with those of her Paris present, Discretion spans the history of colonial conflict from the Second World War to the present day. A tribute to mothers everywhere, it is also the story of a modern French family feeling their way through the puzzle of their history - and finding one another as they go along.
Winner of Prix Maryse Conde 2020 (France)
“'Through the lens of an often-tender family portrait, the author delivers a biting portrayal of a France steeped in hypocrisy and false smiles, where equality of opportunity is all smoke and mirrors ... A novel that's bang on the money, coursing with a chillingly legitimate sense of grievance.' Slate 'Likeevery accomplished novel, La Discr”
'Faiza Guene is an important voice in French literature, rebelliously dissecting ideas of home, identity and belonging with a universally accessible intimacy and power.' -- Diana Evans
"Haunting .. Clear-eyed but tender, every page is filled with insight. " Herald Scotland
"Guene is a masterful storyteller who can say so much in just a few sentences" Arab News
'It's not an exaggeration to suggest that Guéne is doing for the people, especially the youth, of the banlieu what James Kelman and Agnes Owens have done for the deprived of Glasgow's housing schemes: that is, give a voice to those who have been excluded from literature ... Guéne is very evidently a natural novelist, a young writer of real talent' -- Allan Massie The Scotsman
‘She writes her novel like one might narrate a film, with a poetic prose that reveals detailed glimpses into the generations of the Taleb family, hardened and shaped by war, immigration and racism.’ The National
‘This is a rich novel, full of insight into cultural tropes, racial prejudice, consumerism, shameful colonial history but also infused with sheer human warmth and humour. It is a tightrope walk that Faïza Guène carries off with grace.’ Books Oxygen
‘Guène has a fine eye for the contradictions, agonies and delights of life at the intersection of Algeria, contemporary Paris, and its banlieue. Discretion … takes in dispossession, belonging, memory and the intergenerational conflict over silence and discretion in the face of pain or injustice. A short bitter-sweet read with a light touch, Guène captures many of the tensions that tug at second-generation immigrant families in France today with honesty, humour and warmth.’ The Economist
‘One of the hottest literary talents of multicultural Europe.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Guène is too important a writer to dismiss ... she deserves to be heard.’ Independent
Faiza Guene is a bestselling and award-winning French Algerian writer and director. Spotted at a writing workshop at the age of eighteen, she made an astonishing literary debut with her international bestseller, Kiffe kiffe demain (Just Like Tomorrow), which has been translated into more than thirty languages. Her other novels in English include Dreams from the Endz, Bar Balto, and Men Don't Cry. Guene has acquired a reputation as one of France's most unique contemporary literary voices. She has directed several short films and is a co-writer on Disney Star's mini-series Oussekine (forthcoming May 2022). Sarah Ardizzone has translated more than fifty titles from around the French-speaking world, including by Daniel Pennac, Gael Faye, Alain Mabanckou and Yasmina Reza. Her translation of Faiza Guene's Kiffe-Kiffe Demain (Just Like Tomorrow) won the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the IBBY UK Honour title, and was shortlisted for the Young Minds Book Award and longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
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