Overview

Born out of wedlock in the 1960s into a white middle-class family, Ayele is entrusted after her birth to a peasant family at the behest of her maternal grandmother. No one, especially not her grandfather, must learn of the existence of this mixed-race child.Because of her colour and her parents' indifference Ayele becomes the victim of racist attacks at school as well as sexual abuse in her foster-family. To lessen her suffering, she creates an imaginary world for herself, invents her own languages, and accompanies Yuri Gagarin into space.Later on, when her real family half opens the door, she takes exception to her mother and her grandmother, who does not fail to humiliate her, in order to cast this too dark-skinned granddaughter out. Her father, an artist of international renown, keeps her in the shadows.Abandoned by both parents, Ayele recognises herself within the ethnic minority groups and decides to settle in Senegal, where her colour, as she thinks, would no longer be relevant.In a German biologist she finally finds what she has been looking for: love and appreciation. He teaches her to accept her colour and be proud of her mixed origin, and praises her dual cultural contribution. Guided and cheerful, Ayele embodies a changing world where race and borders become blurred.

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9781521412206

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