Emmanuel Pierrat's 'Fin de pistes': A Political Novel on Africa

Emmanuel Pierrat, a lawyer known for defending free expression, publishes his fifth novel 'Fin de pistes' with Éditions Léo Scheer. The story follows three men and a woman stranded at the Angola border, fleeing a coup in Namibia. Over a night, they recount their lives, revealing Africa's history and its ties to France. Characters include René, a French mercenary involved in the Algerian War and Françafrique; Makéda, an Ethiopian Jew who emigrated to Israel and later South Africa, facing religious communalism; Albéric, a Belgian-born fireworks maker who settles in Africa; and Codjo, born in Dahomey (now Benin), who shifts from Marxist activism to art trafficking before rediscovering his negritude. The novel critiques French colonial policies, the Algerian War, Françafrique, and religious exclusion, while also addressing mercantile exploitation through tourism and art trafficking. Pierrat presents a complex, divided Africa, exemplified by Félix Houphouët-Boigny's paradoxical behavior of attending Mass and making animist offerings to crocodiles.