Alsace 1944: Mathilde follows the soldier she loves home to Morocco. Suffocated by the climate, loneliness, and a mistrust of foreigners, she grows restless. Relations between settlers and natives are tense and her husband is caught in the crossfire; his desire to protect his wife at odds with her desire for freedom, as the increasing violence of Moroccos struggle for independence grows.

Alsace, 1944. Mathilde finds herself falling deeply in love with Amine Belhaj, a Moroccan soldier billeted in her town fighting for the French. After the Liberation, Mathilde leaves her country to follow her new husband to Morocco. But life here is unrecognisable to this brave and passionate young woman. Suffocated by the heat of the Moroccan climate, by her loneliness on the farm, by the mistrust she inspires as a foreigner and by their lack of money, Mathilde grows restless. As violence broods and Morocco''s own struggle for independence grows daily, Mathilde and Amine''s refusal to take sides sees them and their family at odds with their own desire for freedom. How can Mathilde - a woman whose life is dominated by the decisions of men - hold her family together in a world that is being torn apart?

Autorentext
Leïla Slimani is the first Moroccan woman to win France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, which she won for Lullaby. A journalist and frequent commentator on women's and human rights, she is French president Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture. Leïla is also the chair of the International Booker Prize 2023 judging panel. Born in Rabat, Morocco,in 1981, she lives in Portugal.Sam Taylor is a novelist and literary translator. His previous novels have reached an international audience, and his award-winning translations include works by Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani and Marcel Proust. Born in England, Sam was a writer and editor at The Observer before moving to France. **He now lives in the United States with his family.

Zusammenfassung
The first volume of a new trilogy telling the saga of one French family between 1946 and 2016.