The most secret memory of men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

In 2018, Diégane Latyr Faye, a young Senegalese writer, discovered in Paris a legendary book, published in 1938: Le labyrinthe de l'inhumain . We lost track of its author, described in his time as "Rimbaud nègre", since the scandal that the publication of his text triggered. Diégane then embarks, fascinated, on the trail of the mysterious TC Elimane, confronting the great tragedies of colonialism and the Holocaust. From Senegal to France via Argentina, what truth awaits him at the center of this labyrinth?

Without ever losing the thread of this quest that absorbs him, Diégane, in Paris, frequents a group of young African authors: they all observe each other, discuss, drink, make love a lot, and question the necessity of creation from exile. He will especially become attached to two women: the sultry Siga, holder of secrets, and the fleeting photojournalist Aïda…

Perpetually inventive, The Most Secret Memory of Men is a stunning novel, dominated by the demand for a choice between writing and life, or by the desire to go beyond the question of the face-off between Africa and the West. Above all, it is a love song to literature and its timeless power.

"A world-book, which takes us to Paris, Dakar, Amsterdam and Buenos Aires, where we cross the apocalypses of the 20th century as we cross Borges, Sábato and Gombrowicz." Youness Bousenna, Télérama

"A great book, a jewel of know-how that enchants you, transports you and pursues you. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, remember this name, is the young author of this work with its fascinating subject and its architecture as perfect as it is exciting." Marianne Payot, L'Express

"To inaugurate this literary rentrée, no novel is more suitable than The Most Secret Memory of Men , by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr." Camille Laurens, Le Monde

" The most secret memory of men is an investigation, a fascinating and disconcerting journey through a mosaic of testimonies, stories and writings, but also an initiatory novel." Frédérique Roussel, Libération

"His inventiveness, his audacity and the intransigence of his language make this book, which confronts the necessities of living and writing, a declaration of love to literature." Laëtitia Favro, Lire