Overview

"It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didn't let that stop her. The daughter of a Native American woman and an African-Haitian man, Lafanu had the rare opportunity to study, travel, and follow her dreams, thanks to her indomitable spirit, but not without facing intolerance and violence. Now, in 1887, living in Rome as one of the city's most established painters, she is ready to tell her fiance about her difficult life, which began in a poor family forty years earlier. In 2019, an Italian art curator of Somali origin is desperately trying to bring to Europe her younger cousin, who is only sixteen and has already tried to reach Italy on a long, treacherous journey. While organizing an art exhibition that will combine the paintings of Lafanu Brown with the artworks of young migrants, the curator becomes more and more obsessed with the life and secrets of the nineteenth-century painter.Weaving together these two vibrant voices, Igiaba Scego has crafted a powerful exploration of what it means to be ""other,"" to be a woman, and particularly a Black woman, in a foreign country, yesterday and today."

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9781913109202

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Reviews

'A testament to the possibilities of liberation that rest in every act against injustice, and in every moment of artistic creation' [Maaza Mengiste]; 'In its reckoning with racism and colonialism. The Colour Line explores the potential for artists to reclaim line and colour in the name of justice' [Selby Wynn Schwartz]; 'An engrossing tale of ambition, survival, and love' [Publishers Weekly]; 'An intense and evocative book about the lasting traumas of racial injustice, the healing power of creativity, and the importance of representation in history' [Ruth Ben-Ghiat]

Author Information

Igiaba Scego is a Somali Italian writer, cultural activist and freelance scholar. She was born in Rome to Somali parents who took refuge in Italy following a coup d'etat in their native country, where her father served as foreign minister. She holds a PhD in education on postcolonial subjects, has done extensive academic work in Italy and around the world and has a special interest in immigration and mobility. Her memoir won Italy's prestigious Mondello Prize. The Italian edition of The Colour Line won the Premio Napoli. Scego received the International Award Viareggio-Repaci in 2021. Most recently, she was longlisted for this year's Premio Strega (2023), Italy's most prestigious literary award. Her previous novels include Beyond Babylon (2019) and Adua (2017). She also co-edited the anthology series Africana (Feltrinelli), with Chiara Piaggio. Igiaba Scego has written for The Observer, New York Times and Monocle. She is a frequent contributor to La Lettura, the literary supplement to Corriere della Sera and the magazine Internazionale.

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