{"product_id":"in-the-belly-of-the-congo-9781635422580","title":"In the Belly of the Congo","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eBrittle Paper\u003c\/i\u003e Notable African Book of 2023 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA gripping multigenerational novel that explores the history and human cost of colonialism in the Congo. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eApril 1958. Organizing the Brussels World's Fair, the biggest international event since the end of the Second World War, subcommissioner Robert Dumont cedes to pressure from the royal palace: there will be a \"Congolese village\" in one of the seven pavilions devoted to the settlements. Among the eleven members of this \"human zoo\" assembled to put on a show at the foot of the Atomium is the young Tshala, daughter of the intractable king of the Bakuba. From her native Kasai to Brussels via Léopoldville, the princess's journey unfolds--until her forced exhibition at Expo 58, where we lose track of her.\u003cbr\u003e Summer 2004. Newly arrived in Belgium, a niece of the missing princess crosses paths with a man haunted by the ghost of his father--Francis Dumont, professor of law at the Free University of Brussels. A breathtaking series of events will reveal to them a secret the former subcommissioner of Expo 58 carried to his grave.\u003cbr\u003e From one century to the next, \u003ci\u003eIn the Belly of the Congo\u003c\/i\u003e confronts History with a capital \"H\" to pose the central question of the colonial equation: Can the past pass?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBlaise Ndala\u003c\/b\u003e is a Canadian writer originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His debut novel, \u003ci\u003eJ'irai danser sur la tombe de Senghor\u003c\/i\u003e, won the Ottawa Book Award for French fiction and was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award. His book \u003ci\u003eSans capote ni kalachnikov\u003c\/i\u003e won the 2019 Combat des livres and was a finalist for the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire and the Trillium Book Award. \u003ci\u003eIn the Belly of the Congo\u003c\/i\u003e is his first book to appear in English. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmy B. Reid \u003c\/b\u003eis an award-winning translator and Professor of French and Gender Studies at New College of Florida. In 2016 she received a Literature Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for Patrice Nganang's \u003ci\u003eWhen the Plums Are Ripe\u003c\/i\u003e. Her other translations include Patrice Nganang's \u003ci\u003eDog Days\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMount Pleasant\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eA Trail of Crab Tracks\u003c\/i\u003e, Mutt-Lon's \u003ci\u003eThe Blunder\u003c\/i\u003e, and Véronique Tadjo's \u003ci\u003eQueen Pokou\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Other Press (NY)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50486530834706,"sku":"9781635422580","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3ac078e3-d7e6-475c-8e64-25312b111561.jpg?v=1730428925","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/in-the-belly-of-the-congo-9781635422580","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}