THE HAND OF IMAN, a title that's a statement of acts that carry tons of freight

THE HAND OF IMAN
RYAD ASSANI-RAZAKI
Arachnide Editions (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$19.95 paperback, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Finalist, Governor General's Award for French-language Fiction

Dreaming is a luxury that few can afford. And yet, however inadvisedly, Iman dreams.

In an unnamed African country devoured by rampant urbanization and haunted by the mirages of Western prosperity, where for a few CFA francs a child can be bought and sold into slavery, Toumani's earliest education is in the tolerance of suffering. He endures one master then the next, holding his survival—his very self—with open hands.

For Iman, a black and white biracial boy with an elusive presence, the only viable option appears to be an escape to bountiful Europe, where everything must be easier. Obsessed with this idyllic elsewhere to the point of losing himself completely, he remains, for those close to him, an object of fascination difficult to define.

When Iman reaches out his hand to rescue Toumani from certain death, he sets in motion a friendship that may satisfy their need for connection but cannot fundamentally change their circumstances. What is the point of survival without hope for a more livable future? And what happens to them when they both love the same girl?

In this stunning translation of Ryad Assani-Razaki's award-winning debut novel, dreaming is a luxury that few can afford. And yet, however inadvisedly, Iman dreams.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: It's hard to read about children abused by parents; harder still to realize they cared so little about the child as to sell him into slavery. It is a child who is the only one to see humanity in Toumani, the only one to care enough about his personhood to do the minimally decent thing, putting out a hand to stop Toumani from being killed.

In the context of this read, this is *the* ray of hope.

There is nothing happy going on in this Francophone African country. The author emigrated from Benin to Canada so it's easy to make the leap as to where we are, and how we should be seriously respectful of the revealed reality of the characters' lives. It's really not so much a novel as a series of heartbreaking character sketches that perforce tell the stories of some small, insignificant lives. Which of course makes them look large and their very "smallness" on the cosmic stage makes them universal, relatable.

It's dark and difficult to read at times, the world's an uncaring place; and, remember this very clearly: No good deed goes unpunished.

Ever heard of Mani? These characters live in his world.

I am not uplifted by this story. I am impressed so many lovely sentences, so many trenchant images, form stacks and ricks and piles of clever images that never once leave off being bleak. North Sea in 1953 bleak; all set in sunny Benin...proof there is no geographic cure for what ails us as humans.

I'm very glad I read it, but it takes a match between mood of reader and mood of book to create that positive experience.