Jacaranda - by Gaël Faye (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A major bestseller and prize-winner in France: a young man journeys from Paris to Rwanda to discover the truth about his mother's past and the country of her birth, from the internationally renowned Rwandan-French novelist and hip-hop artist Gaël Faye

"Gaël Faye's talent is breathtaking." --Imbolo Mbue
"A writer of great promise and grace."--Chigozie Obioma

Growing up in mid-1990s Versailles, Milan--the son of a French father and a Rwandan mother--blames his poor academic performance on the emotional trauma of the genocide in his mother's homeland. In truth, it's a convenient excuse: for twelve-year-old Milan, the violence is an abstraction that only reaches him through television broadcasts, disturbing but remote transmissions from a country that seems impossibly distant.

That is, until Milan meets Claude, a small boy with a bandaged head whom Milan's mother introduces as a cousin who has come to France seeking medical treatment for injuries he sustained in the war. Milan excitedly welcomes him as the brother he's always wanted--until, just as quickly as he appeared, Claude is sent back to Rwanda with no warning, leaving Milan heartbroken and confused. Four years will pass until, in the wake of his parents' divorce, Milan visits Rwanda with his mother for the very first time. The boys reunite as teenagers, and he discovers a community that is both more fractured and more vibrant than he could have imagined.

But the trip raises more questions for Milan than it answers--about his family's history, the war and its aftershocks, and whether he can ever truly belong in this deeply traumatized and rapidly evolving country. As the decades pass, Milan continuously returns to Rwanda to unearth the secrets that have taken root in the shadows of long silences, joining the fraught but vital efforts to confront the past and imagine a new kind of future, family, and home.

About the Author

Gaël Faye was born in 1982 in Burundi to a French father and Rwandan mother. In 1995, after the outbreak of the civil war and the genocide in Rwanda, the family moved to France. An author, songwriter and hip-hop artist, he released his first solo album, Pili Pili sur un croissant au beurre, in 2013. His first novel Small Country was an international bestseller and was awarded numerous literary prizes, including the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. He lives in Paris.

Sarah Ardizzone is a translator of diverse French-speaking voices. Her work spans hip-hop lyrics, film scripts, memoir, picture books, graphic novels and literary fiction. Sarah has received the Scott Moncrieff prize twice, the Marsh award twice, and a New York Times notable book accolade. She was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2022 and made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2024.