Thirty Days

October 1, 2018
Alphonse Badji, originally from Senegal, lived for many years in Brussels but now resides in a Belgian village near the French border, in an area his wife, Cat, describes as "the region of mass graves and unexploded munitions, abandoned border posts, defunct caf�s, and the elderly." But Alphonse feels at home in the landscape, and though he's a musician, he likes his work as a handyman, painting, wallpapering, and sanding floors. The work connects him to people who seem to want to confide in him, and he often finds himself cast in the roles of helper and rescuer. As the title indicates, the book takes place over a period of 30 days, and the chapters are numbered in descending order. There is little in the way of plot, but place is vividly evoked. Despite the small-scale setting, Verbeke (Assumptions, 2015) gives the work a global dimension, with themes of outsiderness, immigration, racism, colonialism, and language woven throughout. Winner of multiple Dutch literary awards, this novel will appeal to readers who like exploring world literature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)