What the Day Owes the Night

'If a woman loves you, Younes, if she truly loves you, and if you have the wisdom to appreciate this great privilege, then there is no god to touch you'. As a young man Younes' life is irrevocably changed when he leaves his broken home for the vibrant, colourful and affluent European district of Rio Salado. Renamed Jonas, he begins a new life and forges a unique friendship with a group of boys, an enduring bond that nothing - not even the Algerian Revolt - will shake. Yet with the return to Rio Salado of Emilie - a beautiful, beguiling young girl who captures the hearts of all who see her - an epic love story is set in motion that will challenge the complicity of these four boys and force Jonas to confront the burden of having to choose between two worlds: Algerian or European; loyalty or selfishness; past or present; surrendering to fate or grasping control of his own destiny. In "What The Day Owes The Night", Yasmina Khadra has written a majestic novel of colonial Algeria, a turbulent, passionate, heart-rending country. Set against the war of independence and a harsh yet mystic landscape, Khadra's dazzling prose and consummate compassion illuminate the terrible rift between lovers, family and friends who love the same country.