Small Country

A Novel

By: Gaël Faye

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman

Already an international sensation and prize-winning bestseller in France, an evocative coming-of-age story of a young boy, a lost childhood and a shattered homeland.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ALBERTINE PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE • LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION • LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE

Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expatriate neighborhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister Ana, is something close to paradise.

These are carefree days of laughter and adventure – sneaking Supermatch cigarettes and gorging on stolen mangoes – as he and his mischievous gang of friends transform their tiny cul-de-sac into their kingdom.

But dark clouds are gathering over this small country, and soon their peaceful existence will shatter when Burundi, and neighboring Rwanda, are brutally hit by civil war and genocide.

A novel of extraordinary power and beauty, Small Country describes an end of innocence as seen through the eyes of a child caught in the maelstrom of history. Shot through with shadows and light, tragedy and humor, it is a stirring tribute not only to a dark chapter in Africa’s past, but also to the bright days that preceded it.

Quiet But Powerful

Quiet but powerful. Tough but truthful. Exemplifies the tragedy of what appears to be a baseless contemporary civil war.

Heartbreaking

These seemed so real. The coups in Africa have been devastating. Gabby is a remarkable boy.

What it means to be a child of war.

Gorgeous exploration of how life is altered by war. One minute you are a child, the next the world is crumbling all around you and you are just trying to stay a child.

Amazing prose

Dismaying, well written story that takes you through all the emotions. With that said, the performance underwhelmed because the narrator didn’t bother consulting about how to pronounce the rich Kiswahili words sprinkled throughout the gripping story. This assuming that no one notices because “some people don’t listen to books” is irritating 🙄 👉🏿

Entrañable

una historia constituida a través de sus relaciones emocionales más significativas, un viaje que es capaz de mirar al origen por su amor incondicional y su franqueza para contar lo doloroso con el corazón

Hardly anything about the genocide

I adopted a child from Burundi and have since found out that the genocide wasn’t just in Rwanda so I wanted to learn more about Burundi’s history. This book had almost zero mention of it. It didn’t have anything about Burundi, really, it was only about the author’s childhood and could have taken place in any country given the lack of anything really having to do with Burundi. No history, no geography/seasons, no culture, no anything having to do with Burundi. This was what you would expect from a celebrity’s biography and if the author had been a celebrity it would have been interesting. Needless to say, I recommend you save your money/credits.