bakhita, veronique olmi

French publisher: ACTES SUD

US publisher: OTHER PRESS

Translated by Adriana Hunter

Inspired by the true story of a former slave who became a saint, this poignant novel explores how a human being can survive the obliteration of her identity, and how kindness and generosity can be born out of profound trauma.

She recalls little of her childhood, not even her own name. She was barely seven years old when she was snatched by slave raiders from her village in the Darfur region of southern Sudan. In a cruel twist, they gave her the name that she will carry for the rest of her life: Bakhita, “the Lucky One” in Arabic. Sold and resold along the slave trade routes, Bakhita endures years of unspeakable abuse and terror. At age thirteen, at last, her life takes a turn when the Italian consul in Khartoum purchases her. A few years later, as chaos engulfs the capital, the consul returns to Italy, taking Bakhita with him. In this new land, another long and arduous journey begins–one that leads her onto a spiritual path for which she is still revered today.

With rich, evocative language, Véronique Olmi immerses the reader in Bakhita’s world–her unfathomable resilience, her stubborn desire to live, and her ability to turn toward the pain of others in spite of the terrible sufferings that she too must endure.

“I was enthralled and moved by Olmi’s account of Bakhita’s life. This spare and sensuous novel is unflinching, yet not exploitative. Everyone should read this book.” —Therese Anne Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of A Well-Behaved Woman and Z

“A powerful, captivating story.” —Marek Halter, author of Sarah
 
“Intimate in tone, epic in scope, Bakhita tells the moving story of one woman’s trajectory from bondage to faith and healing.” —Mitchell James Kaplan, author of By Fire, By Water

“Poignant…Olmi enters into this character with empathy but without excessive pathos.” —Le Figaro
 
Praise for Beside the Sea:

“A harrowing evocation of mental illness, and of one woman’s terrifying inability to bear the burdens of motherhood. A sustained exercise in dread for the reader, but a surprisingly sympathetic portrait nonetheless.” —Lionel Shriver, author of We Need to Talk about Kevin

“Prose…filled with sad poetic sense and blunt, bleak realities, compellingly conveyed in Hunter’s colloquial English.” —Times Literary Supplement

“This is a mesmerizing portrait…it should be read.” —The Guardian