STANDING HEAVY :BOOKER PRIZE 2023 PB – GAUZ-FRANK WYNNE

One of those rare, transformative novels KARIM MISKE Funny and poignant TIFFANY TSAO, author of The Majesties Initially a little intrigued, all babies eventually return the security guard s smile. The security guard adores babies. Perhaps because babies do not shoplift. Babies adore the security guard. Perhaps because he does not drag babies to the sales. The 1960s – Ferdinand arrives in Paris from Cote d Ivoire, ready to take on the world and become a big somebody. The 1990s – It is the Golden Age of immigration, and Ossiri and Kassoum navigate a Paris on the brink of momentous change. The 2010s – In a Sephora on the Champs-Elysees, the all-seeing eyes of a security guard observes the habits of those who come to worship at this church to consumerism. Amidst the political bickering of the inhabitants of the Residence for Students from Cote d Ivoire and the ever-changing landscape of French immigration policy, Ferdinand, Ossiri and Kassoum, two generations of Ivoirians, attempt to make their way as undocumented workers, taking shifts as security at a flour mill. Sharply satirical, political and poignant, Standing Heavy is a searingly witty deconstruction of colonial legacies and capitalist consumption, an unprecedented and unforgettable account of everything that passes under a security guard s gaze. Translated from the French by Frank Wynne Inventive and very funny Guardian A compact, humane satire Financial Times