Gilbert Gatore

Marjolijn De Jager

The Past Ahead is the story of the destinies of two people after their experiences of the genocide in Rwanda. Isaro is orphaned, exiled, and now returned to her native country. Niko is a character in a novel that Isaro writes to help her understand her country's recent horrific past. Isaro's quest to recover the memory of the life she has lost is haunted by her nightmare imaginings, whose horror is given expression through Niko, a mute social outcast. When an army intent on massacre reaches his village, the once gentle young man is forced to become a killer. After the fighting ends, Niko retreats to a cave that he shares with a family of gorillas to try to escape the burden of his guilt. In his solitude, he is plagued with painful memories that will not leave him. As Isaro writes Niko's story, she succumbs to the sadness of death, violence, and the dreadful reminders of her terrible past. Stunning and powerfully written, Gatore's novel lays bare the unfathomable human cost of this international tragedy.

A Novel

The Past Ahead

Isaro, enfant d'Afrique adoptée en France, est une étudiante belle comme le jour qui voit son insouciance se fêler le jour où les nouvelles terrifiantes de son pays d'origine se mettent à tonner trop fort. Niko est un simple d'esprit au corps aussi harmonieux que sa dentition est monstrueuse. Depuis la fin de la guerre civile qui a ravagé son village, il vit caché dans la grotte peuplée de grands singes qui surplombe le lac. L'une voudrait comprendre ce que l'autre souhaiterait seulement oublier... Deux personnages fragiles, facettes d'une même médaille, font vibrer ce magnifique premier roman : la victime et le bourreau, confrontés chacun à la question de la rédemption et de la renaissance. L'écriture, éblouissante, épouse les contours de rêves aux couleurs aussi violentes que sensuelles et de contes ancestraux où des hirondelles trop fières d'elles paient du prix de leur vie les défis qu'elles lancent à de malheureux crapauds.

Gilbert Gatore

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