All Men Want to Know

By Nina Bouraoui Viking, 192pp, £ 12.99 An introspective work of autobiographical fiction, Nina Bouraoui’s narrative shifts seamlessly between a confused 18- year- old in 1980s Paris, and the narrator’s childhood in Algiers, Algeria, which became independent from France in 1962. Offering disjointed snapshots of a life torn between two competing identities, All Men Want To Know is a deeply personal exploration of cultural and personal identity, sexuality and belonging. Written in a dreamy, lyrical style, the narrative gives a sense of unravelling as much as it does coming together. Raw and sensual, readers will be enraptured by the narrator’s intense evocations of guilt, desire and longing, delivered in passages of beautiful, erotic poetry disguised as prose. ■