Fatou, a migrant from West Africa and domestic servant, has escaped from one set of hardships to another. Lacking any trace of self-pity, Fatou is grateful for the stolen hour a week she swims at the local health centre. Her walk takes her past the Embassy of Cambodia where, intriguingly, there always seems to be a badminton game in progress. The perpetual “pock; smash” of the shuttlecock mirrors the relentless rhythm of conquest and submission familiar to all migrants living precariously on the fringes of society.
ISBN: 978-3-12-577647-0