As the Crow Flies

While Véronique Tadjo is perhaps better known for her works for young people, she has also written an important journalistic account of the Rwandan genocide ("The Shadow of Imana", Heinemann, 2002). With "As the Crow Flies," this Côte d'Ivoire-born author enters the genre of experimental novel. Not quite poetry, not exactly myth, not particularly linear, this book explores the elliptical relationship between the narrator and a lover. The book opens with a warning in the prelude: "Indeed, I too would have loved to write one of those serene stories with a beginning and an end. But as you know only too well, it is never like that." This story is told in short sections-some less than a page-that together form a novella-length exploration of life. Part of what makes this novella exciting to read: the fragmentation, risk with changing points of view and chronology-also make it confusing in places. A terrific exploration of consciousness, love, and life from one of the few contemporary African women writers available in translation. Highly recommended.