Nous Serons Des Heros

WE WILL BE HEROES
Under option in Germany and Spain
It's the early 70s, and Olivio and his mother have just fled the Portuguese dictatorship. They set up home in a suburb of Lyon and soon move in with Max, who has come back to France from the newly independent Algeria; they all hope to make a fresh start. Max struggles to accept the teenage Olivio, but Olivio befriends Ahmed, an Algerian immigrant his own age who offers him tenderness and comfort, despite the dangerous games he subjects him to. And despite insinuations made by Max who disapproves of how close the two boys are growing.
As the Portuguese revolution draws near, and a return home is mooted, the struggle between light and stifled violence that crackles through the text is exacerbated, and the confrontation between the different characters' fates becomes irreparable. Olivio must emerge from the shadow of a father who died a hero in a Salazar jail, confront this absent but all-pervasive figure, and become a man.
Brigitte Giraud was born in Algeria and lives in Lyon. She has had eight books published by Stock, including L'amour est très surestimé, (winner of 2007 Prix Goncourt for a novella), Une année étrangère (2009) and Avoir un corps (2013).