Women's freedom in ''Poisson d'or'' by J.M.G.Le Clézio

"Poisson d'or" is a creative literary work about a young girl's struggle for emancipation. The heroine, Laïla, born in North Africa, was stolen, beaten and left half-deaf at the age of six. She was sold to Lalla Asma, who also became her mistress. When she died, as a parentless little girl who had just lost her only support, her grandmother, she became frightened and even chased out of her home. An unhappy child who no longer knows what she's doing, Laïla runs away, breaking the yoke that binds her to Zohra, Lalla's daughter-in-law, who mistreats her and accuses her of having let the old lady die, threatening to hand her over to the police. So she takes refuge in the house of those she calls the "princesses" and flees with one of them, Houriya, to a foreign country. Constantly on the run, Laïla discovered France and the United States, meeting new people, both good and bad. Her thirst for freedom and her determination to have an identity will help her to overcome the obstacles and violence of the worlds she crosses. With a certain simplicity and fluidity. In this novel, Le Clézio has succeeded in accurately describing the landscapes of North Africa, the working-class districts of Paris, the distress, violence, disappointment and even the dream of a woman. He painstakingly depicts the steely will of women against the challenges that stand in the way of their emancipation.

Pagina's: 52, Paperback, Our Knowledge Publishing