Dreams from the Endz

A sharply observed, warm and witty exposé of life in the low-income outskirts of Paris. Faïza Guène replaces the statistics and headlines attached to these areas with the story of one individual: 24 year old Algerian immigrant Ahlème. Ahlème's sassy and spirited first-person narration is the reader's way into a part of Paris where the inhabitants rarely have the chance to speak for themselves.

Sarah Ardizzone, the translator, has triumphed in making Ahlème and her friends' slangy banter sound as natural in English as it does in the French original. The dialogue is thoroughly up-to-date and convincing. A translator's note at the back of the novel explains the research and careful consideration that went into the English version.

The novel brings to life questions of identity, ambition and social barriers in modern France, setting big political issues against more day-to-day twenty-something concerns. This keeps the tone light and the political commentary subtle. This balance makes Ahlème an endearing and impressive figure as she juggles family strife, relationships and the strain of finding her place in multicultural Paris.

An engaging snapshot of a rarely seen part of the city, through the eyes of an angry and inspiring young heroine.