The Pillar of Salt

First published in 1953, and the recipient of the Prix Carthage, The Pillar of Salt introduces us to Alexandre Benillouche, a young boy growing up in a Jewish neighbourhood of Tunis. Though his ailing father — the patriarch of a poor but proud family — expects him to leave school and pursue work, Alexandre dreams of something else, something bigger: to study philosophy in France. He spends his days attempting to fit in with his wealthy European classmates, but failing — caught between his Jewish, Arab, and French identities. As we follow him into the precipice of adulthood, World War II breaks out in Europe. And suddenly Alexandre, and his community, are thrown into collision with something far greater than they could have imagined.

Luminously moving and atmospheric, Memmi tells the story of a colony careening through the early twentieth century, of a young boy determined to make his own way in the world, and of the heavy weight of history that swims under the surface of our ordinary lives.