Literary Fiction — The Book Roads

So Distant From My Life

Monique Ilboudo

Jeanphi is a young man from the fictional West African city of Ouabany who dreams of escaping poverty and building a new life in Europe. Determined to shape his own destiny, he abandons the path his family has chosen for him and embarks on a dangerous migration journey across the Sahara. After being exploited by smugglers and deported from Morocco, he returns home disillusioned but unwilling to surrender his ambitions. His life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Elgep, an affluent French widower hoping to establish a vocational training centre for disadvantaged young people. Their encounter offers Jeanphi a possible route toward a different future, but it also forces him to confront questions about sexuality, identity, dependency, and the unequal relationships between Africa and Europe. In this thought-provoking novel, Monique Ilboudo examines the desperation that drives migration, the contradictions of humanitarian aid, and the social pressures that shape people’s decisions about where they belong.

Burkina Faso 2018