Sherazade by Leila Sebbar

Sherazade is seventeen, Algerian, and a ­runaway in Paris. This novel exposes with honesty and lyricism the various issues that affect a young woman living in a city which is both sophisticated and provincial, liberal and conservative, tolerant and prejudiced.

In Paris, Sherazade is pursued by Julian, the son of French-Algerians who is an ardent Arabist. Pigeon-holed by Julian into the ­traditional exotic mold, Sherazade endeavors to create her own definition of Algerian ­femininity and in doing so breaks down conventions and stereotypes. It is Julian's obsession with her that spurs her on to self-discovery and to make decisions about her future.

Sherazade is about a young woman haunted by her Algerian past. It is a powerful account of a person who searches for her true identity but is caught between worlds Africa and Europe, her parents' and her own, colony and capital. Ultimately it is an ­account of possession, identity and the realities of urban life in the late twentieth century.