A review by sadiereadsagain
All Men Want to Know by Nina Bouraoui
4.0
So, I'll start this review off by saying that I'm confused. I read this as a memoir, the blurb on the book led me to believe that...but I see others referring to it as either a novel or a "fictional autobiography." I'm reviewing this as the memoir I read it to be, but I gather that "auto-fiction" is typical of this author's style. I don't think it will influence my review, but it might be worth pointing out the ambiguity for other readers in case it influences their take on it.
I thought this was a really fascinating book. It is set partly in the Algeria of Nina's childhood, as civil war broke out, and partly in 80's Paris as Nina is discovering her sexuality and navigating the gay scene at that time. Both of these settings see Nina addressing issues of identity - as a French-Algerian born to a white mother and black father, Nina feels neither fully of an Algeria ridding itself of French rule, nor of a family that she is very aware of being "other" from in France. As a young, gay woman, Nina strikes up relationships and acquaintances with other women at a nightclub called the Katmandu, whilst facing her own homophobias and trying to feel comfortable in herself. The book also looks at her mother's experiences, of having a mixed-race marriage and how her family responded to that, and episodes of sexual abuse in both her early life and as the catalyst for the family fleeing Nigeria. Nina spends the book trying to know herself, and know about her place in the world.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book, and appreciated what I now suppose was the fictionalisation of certain aspects to create a really solid narrative. The writing is crisp, but still insightful. Neither timeline was grounded in a life experience or time in history that I know a lot about, and I am keen to read more of her books to explore this more.
I was gifted a NetGalley of this title by Penguin UK in return for a review. All opinions are my own.
I thought this was a really fascinating book. It is set partly in the Algeria of Nina's childhood, as civil war broke out, and partly in 80's Paris as Nina is discovering her sexuality and navigating the gay scene at that time. Both of these settings see Nina addressing issues of identity - as a French-Algerian born to a white mother and black father, Nina feels neither fully of an Algeria ridding itself of French rule, nor of a family that she is very aware of being "other" from in France. As a young, gay woman, Nina strikes up relationships and acquaintances with other women at a nightclub called the Katmandu, whilst facing her own homophobias and trying to feel comfortable in herself. The book also looks at her mother's experiences, of having a mixed-race marriage and how her family responded to that, and episodes of sexual abuse in both her early life and as the catalyst for the family fleeing Nigeria. Nina spends the book trying to know herself, and know about her place in the world.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book, and appreciated what I now suppose was the fictionalisation of certain aspects to create a really solid narrative. The writing is crisp, but still insightful. Neither timeline was grounded in a life experience or time in history that I know a lot about, and I am keen to read more of her books to explore this more.
I was gifted a NetGalley of this title by Penguin UK in return for a review. All opinions are my own.