The Most Secret Memory of Men

September 15, 2023
A struggling Senegalese novelist falls deeper and deeper into a shadowy maze of literature and history. At the heart of this tale of literary identity is the mysterious (and fictional) Senegalese author T.C. Elimane and his 1938 novel, The Labyrinth of Inhumanity, a book that narrator and struggling 21st-century novelist Di�gane Latyr Faye believes to be so brilliant, so profound that, upon reading it, "violent, pure life would come coursing back through your veins." In the midst of trying to write his own masterpiece, Faye, also Senegalese and Paris-based, encourages his clique of writers to help him raise the banner for Labyrinth as a lost, liberating work of African literature. Upon researching the novel's murky history, Faye discovers that it had incited polarizing debate in francophone Africa's literary coteries. From what he can tell, the work pierced Parisian society like a bullet, made a harrowing mark, then disappeared along with its author. Faye decides he must find out what happened to Elimane while searching for the truth of his own murky identity. In time, he questions whether literature for him is a sort of windowpane, or even a shield, behind which he shelters in avoidance of life's "battering ram to the gut." Sarr investigates with keen psychological detail Faye's and Elimane's "foreign"-ness, their oft-patronized "exoticism," their battles with the realities of homeland and the non-being of expatriate life in France. Faye's and his peers' tipsiness before the lure of lasting fame, or at least Instagram notoriety, the constant hum of gossip by which they are encircled, the bitter critical dismissals--all the elements of the writer's consciousness are set out painstakingly. In the end, to whom who can Faye be faithful? How will he define himself, particularly on those nights when the sky, like Elimane's chef-d'oeuvre, is "a labyrinth too, and it's no less inhuman than the labyrinth of the earth"? Translated by Vergnaud, Sarr's novel, though self-conscious and on occasion self-indulgent, nevertheless justifies itself as the winner of the 2021 Prix Goncourt, one of France's most prestigious literary prizes. Despite its self-fascination, a novel of undoubtable prowess.

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Starred review from October 2, 2023
Sarr (Brotherhood) explores African-European relations and literature’s transformative power in this brilliantly executed mystery inspired by the real-life story of Malian author Yambo Ouologuem. Diégane Latyr Faye, a Senegalese writer navigating the Parisian literary scene in 2018, finds the sole extant copy of The Labyrinth of Inhumanity, a debut published to acclaim in 1938, but quickly withdrawn by the publisher after accusations of plagiarism against its Senegalese author, T.C. Elimane, who subsequently fell into obscurity. Faye’s obsession with sharing the book with his circle of young African writers and his hope of discovering more works by Elimane leads to a rambling investigation to uncover what became of the author. Along the way, Faye comes into direct and indirect contact with Elimane’s’s family, lovers, detractors, and colleagues. Sarr’s clever use of multiple formats—including letters, diaries, and book reviews—to parcel out bits of the self-exiled Elimane’s biography ropes the reader into Faye’s search, which feels equal parts focused and fortuitous. The author never sacrifices story for cleverness, though, delivering a rich narrative about art as a lasting marker of ephemeral individual existence. Literary mystery fans will be captivated. Agent: Chrysothemis Armefti, 2 Seas.