The saying goes that the winners are the ones who write the history books. That may be the case. But that doesn't mean that the losers don't have a story to tell. Algeria is Beautiful Like America is an account of a family of French colonists to Algeria who after 50 years of settling, must flee their homes due to revolt. As the war gets more widespread, the book's featured family continues to move west before eventually returning to France in disgrace and immense financial hardship.After years of hearing stories of her family's life in Algeria growing up, French professor Olivia Burton decides to take a pilgrimage to discover the African nation for herself. Though nearly 50 years have passed, Algeria is a nation still reeling from its war of Independence from France. A resulting civil war, terrorism and political strife has given Algeria the reputation of unsafe and unwelcoming, especially to the so-called Black Foot- French Christian and Jewish settlers of which Olivia is a descendant.
Despite her family's misgivings, Olivia makes the trip to Algeria. But for the sake of safety and in need of an interpreter, Olivia meets Djaffar; an Algerian ex-pat who is in the country visiting relatives. Over the course of 3 days, Olivia and Djaffar will travel into the vast Algerian desert in hopes of locating her ancestral homes and anyone who might remember her family. She'll see the effects of colonialism from the perspective of Algeria's Muslim and Arab population. Before her trip ends, Olivia will also find a sort of redemptive closure that has been unattainable for her older family members.
Algeria is Beautiful like America was originally published in French in 2015 by Steinkis Editions. The volume I read was a 2018 English edition published by Oni Press. Some of Burton's story is confusing. The author's account of the Algerian Revolution is told in disjointed segments. Much of which is not in chronological order.
I also had a lot of trouble trying to decipher Olivia Burton's definition of what a Black Foot is. Burton says that it's a French born Algerian. In my mind, that reads as a person from Algerian parents who happens to be born in the country of France. But to Burton's family, if you were born in France but happen to live in Algeria, you were a Black Foot; a term derived from the black leather footwear of early colonists. Yet Olivia's mother and grandparents were born in Algeria. I hope you can understand the confusion as I would think those family members should have been considered Algerian born French men and women.
One element of this book that was not confusing was the artwork. The work of illustrator, Mahi Grand (La Conference/A Report to the Academy), is light years ahead of it's time. Grand uses some many creative framing techniques in this work that would make the great Jack Kirby jealous. Some of the scenes are done as photos from Burton's camera and Mahi Grand makes them almost lifelike. And the way he adapts his penciling to different decades of both French and Algerian history, it was like a team of illustrators were behind this work, not just one.
This graphic novel memoir is something that I will not forget. I took a history class in college about Middle Eastern studies that looked at colonization from really only the indigenous perspective. It was interesting to finally get the European perspective even if it did take me almost a quarter of a century to obtain it.
The book ends with Olivia meeting the family who now occupy the last domicile before her family returned to France. Apparently Olivia's family and the native family met during the moving process. A barrage of insults and bad blood was traded. Years later, one of the descendants says to Olivia, 'Neither you nor I are to blame for any of it. We must simply move on.' This sort of sentiment might seem passive. But it gives a promise of hope and healing. It's a message that I hope my country, America, can one day adopt especially as it seems like everything right now is at a breaking point.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #2 (Set in a Foreign Country) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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