Women of Algiers in Their Apartment

Assia Djebar · 1936–2015 · Algeria

Originally Femmes d'Alger dans leur appartement (French) · translated by Marjolijn de Jager

Why it matters

Algerian women speak of confinement, memory, and the war of independence in stories framed by Delacroix's and Picasso's famous paintings of veiled women. Djebar's collection turns the colonial gaze inside out, giving its subjects their own voices at last.

At a glance

Elliptical, non-linear stories move between historical eras and interior monologue without clear signposting.