Dreams From The Endz
Faďza Gučne: Dreams from the Endz, translated from French by Sarah Ardizzone, Chatto & Windus, June 2008
Faďza Gučne has written a witty, sassy and tender book about a young woman living in the suburbs of Paris. But Dreams from the Endz is much more than that – in exploring the life of an Algerian immigrant in the French capital, Faďza illuminates the impact of politics on everyday lives, seeking out the stories that many would not dare to tell, weaving unforgettable tales across barriers. She uses humour and youthful, contemporary language to tell Ahlčme’s story (her name means ‘dream’ in Arabic), and in so doing she brings these crucial issues – of multiculturalism, immigration, social inequality – to a broad, particularly young, audience. She gives voice to the thoughts and experiences of someone who could otherwise have gone unheard. Dreams from the Endz will give readers a glimpse of another culture and provide valuable insight and understanding into lives we may know very little about. It is a more mature, more overtly politicised novel than Just Like Tomorrow (Faďza Gučne’s first) and takes us to Algeria as well as Paris. Its mix of underlying political commentary with a touching story and a loveable heroine makes it a perfect vehicle for reaching out and spreading awareness.
Faďza Gučne was born in France in 1985 to Algerian parents. She wrote her first novel, Just Like Tomorrow, when she was seventeen years old. It was a huge success in France, selling over 360,000 copies and translation rights around the world, and was shortlisted for the Young Minds Award 2006 and longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2007. She lives in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris.
Sarah Ardizzone was born in Brussels in 1970. She won the Marsh Award 2005 for her translation of Daniel Pennac’s Eye of the Wolf and the Scott-Moncrieff Prize 2007 for Faďza Gučne’s Just Like Tomorrow. She specialises in translating urban slang, and has spent time living in Marseille to pick up ‘Beur’ backslang.