New from “Naufal”: “My Strange Face” by Algerian writer Wiam Sharmaouti
Recently published by the “Naufal – Hachette Antoine” house, the novel “My Strange Face” by Algerian writer Wiam Sharmaouti is a psychological and social narrative that follows a woman wrestling with her memory and identity, carrying the scars of domestic violence, loss, and interrupted love.
The novel revolves around “Kamelah,” who notices a strange woman following her from place to place, only to discover that the features of this woman are merely a reflection of her own face. From this mystery, the doors of the past open to reveal the story of a family and a woman bearing the scars of fear, guilt, and loneliness across generations.
The novel engages with themes of inherited violence, loss, fear of motherhood, and the sacrifices of women within family and marriage, set against the backdrop of the political and social transformations that Algeria has experienced since the late 1980s up to the years of armed violence.
