Why a Booktrail?
1980s, 2004: A novel exploring familial legacies and queer lives.
Where You Go I Will Go
What you need to know before your trail
1980’s Kinshasa. Mira is the teenage daughter of a family on the rise. When she falls in love with an impoverished singer, a criminal the eyes of her parents, it sets her on a dramatic path that winds its way across oceans and decades.
2004, London. Bijoux is a young British-Congolese woman living with her silent and flinty Pentecostal aunt, Tantine Mireille. Outwardly she plays the role of the obedient child, going to prayer meetings and following instructions. But Bijoux has a secret; she is in love with a woman. She has been for a year. When her aunt wants her to marry one of the young men from the church, Bijoux has to make a decision.
Locations
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DR Congo
DR Congo, officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country in Central Africa. By land area the Congo is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. Around 109 million people live in the country and it’s the most populous Francophone country in the world.
The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa, which is also the economic centre. The author is from the country and she refers to it as ‘ her homeland’ and it vividly brings to life the culture, friendship between women and life in the diaspora.
London does appear in the novel but let’s be honest its the DR Congo that shines.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Where You Go, I Will Go
Destination/Location: DR Congo Author/guide: Christina Fonthes Departure: 1980s, 2004
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