Nathacha Appanah

As World War II starts to wind down, Raj, a 9-year-old living in poverty in Mauritius, knows nothing about the war or, it seems, anything else outside of his immediate experience; given that survival for his family is a day-to-day matter, it’s hardly a surprise. One day he is badly beaten and is taken to the hospital of a nearby prison camp where his father is a guard. There he meets David, a boy his own age. David, we learn (though Raj doesn’t until later), is a refugee, one of a group of Jews whose escape from Nazi Germany ended in their extended internment in this camp in Mauritius. A highly destructive island-wide storm allows David to escape with Raj's help. Eventually, the boys flee into the forest which leads in turn to the central tragedy of the story. The story is told by the aging Raj through recollection, interspersed with current-day reflections on aging and (particularly on) loss. I enjoyed this more than I expected and found that the book resonated…and has stayed with me. Recommended.… (mais)

El 26 de diciembre de 1940, el Atlantic atraca en Port Louis con unos 1.500 judíos a bordo, expulsados de Palestina y deportados a la isla de Mauricio, por entonces colonia británica. En aquella época, Raj, apenas un niño, no sabía nada del mundo ni de las tragedias que en él se desarrollaban. Pero su encuentro con David, el niño judío; los campos de caña de azúcar, la violencia de su padre, la ternura maternal y el sol abrasador marcarán su vida para siempre. Una novela que desvela un episodio del Holocausto hasta ahora desconocido. La inocencia e ingenuidad de los niños protagonistas frente a la tragedia, tal como sucede en El niño del pijama de rayas.… (mais)