Author: Gaël Faye
French-Rwandan rap star Gaël Faye’s debut novel shares the title of one of his most famous songs “Petit Pays” which means “small Country” and is informed by his own complicated biography.
It is a luminous and poignant novel about childhood, war, exile and identity. This is literature at its most powerful.
The small country are gathered by dark clouds and the peaceful existence of this country will be destroyed when Burundi, and neighboring Rwanda, are brutally hit by civil war and genocide.
This haunting novel describes a devastating end of innocence as seen through the eyes of a young child caught in the maelstrom of history. It is a stirring tribute not only to a time of tragedy, but also to the bright days that came before it.
> Shiuly Rina
