Silence on the Shores

"Silence on the Shores" depicts the final day in the life of a Maghrebian immigrant in France. Having crossed the Mediterranean to "the other shore" as a young man to find work, he ultimately remained in France, married a French woman, and broke the promise he made to his mother to return home one day. Aware that death is drawing close, he fears experiencing the ultimate form of exile: dying alone, with no fellow Muslim at his side to whisper the customary prayer for the dead in his ear. Leila Sebbar's minimalist style deftly and powerfully conveys the simplicity of everyday life on both shores of the Mediterranean. Interweaving several monologues, she examines multiple facets of exile and the role of memory in easing its pain. The daughter of a French mother and an Algerian father, Leila Sebbar places herself at the juncture of two very different cultures. Having spent her formative years in colonial Algeria, she now resides in Paris. Mildred Mortimer is an associate professor of French at the University of Colorado.