Summary of At Night All Blood is Black
Alfa Ndiaye is a Senegalese soldier who has never before left his village but is now sent to France to fight in the trenches of the First World War. When his friend Mademba is gravely injured in battle and begs Alfa to end his suffering, Alfa cannot bring himself to kill his friend. Consumed by guilt and anger, he descends into madness, severing the heads of German soldiers in a cruel ritual. He is eventually sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he reflects on his past life in Senegal.
Reasons to read At Night All Blood is BlackÂ
“At Night All Blood is Black” is a powerful but disturbing story about the madness of the First World War. The novella highlights the contribution of soldiers from France’s colonies in Africa and contains spiritual elements of traditional African storytelling. “At Night All Blood is Black” received the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens in 2018 and the Strega European Prize in 2019. The English translation by Anna Moschovakis won the International Booker Prize in 2021 and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction in 2020.
Setting: France
The exact location is not mentioned in the book; Verdun is a plausible setting, but the novel could be situated anywhere at the Western Front in France.
Original title: Frère d’âme
Year of publication: 2018
Nr of pages: 160
