Grand Menteur (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781771661300)

Globe and Mail Best 100 Book of 2015

The secret world of Mauritian street-gangs is not for the faint of heart. Fraught with peril and mischief, its inner workings are a mystery to the daughter of one of its most valued members: Serge, the Grand Menteur. A liar of exceptional caliber whose sole responsibility is to purposefully confuse police with alibis, the Menteur fears for the criminal future he has unwittingly introduced into his daughter's life, when her clear knack for violence attracts the notice of senior gang members.

Mauritian Kreol, English, and French blend together into a heady brew of language in Grand Menteur. Written in a nuanced style reflecting the island-nation's convoluted history of colonialism, this debut novel by Jean Marc Ah-Sen sheds an unflinching light on the poverty and down-and-out hardship of a shadow class of immigrants from the 1940s to the '80s.

Their story, with elements of child/parent relations and the tumultuous emotions tied to leaving home for greener pastures, will resonate with readers familiar with diasporic fiction, adventure and travelogue writing, and 'lock, stock and barrel' British crime fiction.

Author: Jean Marc Ah-Sen
ISBN-10: 1771661305
ISBN-13: 9781771661300
Publisher: Book*hug Press
Language: English
Published: 10/20/2015
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2015 pg. 70