In the belly of the Congo – THRESHOLD
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- Today, “In the belly of the Congo” by Blaise Ndala was published on January 7, 2021 by Editions du Seuil.
Alain Raimbault, new contributor of the group reading
20 minutes Books, recommend you
In the belly of the Congo by Blaise Ndala, published on January 7, 2021 by Editions du Seuil.
Her favorite quote:
“Then she began to tell me how, in the history of the Bakuba, women had always been the beating heart of the monarchy. How, under the reign of Woto, son of Heaven and Earth who continues to be reincarnated in his successors, women had been granted a most prominent place. “
Why this book?
- Because Blaise Ndala summons the ghosts here of the Belgian colonization of the Congo, he stirs up the cage containing the actors (victims, executioners, corpses, bones) of a not so past past. Not only does it denounce the horrors committed during the colonial era, but it gives to see, to live, to feel the weight of the heritage, conscious and unconscious, that our parents bequeathed to us.
- Because beyond history, beyond shame, from the scandalous “Congolese village” of the Universal Exhibition in Brussels in 1958 (it was unfortunately not the first), there are these characters of infinite complexity who make this novel a fascinating work. Blaise Ndala knows how to show family tragedies and their consequences on the following generations. Under the pretext of the novel, he gives us secrets that can only move us.
- Because the second part is breathless. I want to find out how IDF’s niece, decades later, will solve the mystery hanging over her aunt’s last days. Exciting suspense.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot. Princess Tshala, daughter of the king of the Bakuba, promised to a marriage of convenience, is seduced by a White administrator from the Belgian colony. Second part, the 1958 Brussels Universal Exhibition, it is exhibited in the “Congolese village”. His niece Nyota went looking for him 45 years later.
Characters. Princess Tshala Nyota Moelo, her father the king, Belgian settlers, then Nyota who leads the investigation, surrounded by characters in search of their own truth.
Places. Belgian Congo, Brussels and Belgium.
The time. Two eras: the first, that of the Belgian colonization of the Congo, then that of the Universal Exhibition of 1958. The second, the beginning of the 2000s.
The author. Born in 1972 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Blaise Ndala studied Law in Belgium in 2003 and moved to Ottawa, Canada, in 2007. He works in the legal field while pursuing his career as a novelist. He is also a literary columnist.
This book was read with a lot of interest in the story, in the stories that echo each other, and in the terribly moving fate of a few characters.
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