Derrière le sourire du masque

"This young Cameroonian author seems to have the gift of foresight, since his novel about the international traffic of cultural artifacts was published before there was any question of the restitution of artwork from Abomey in Benin, including the throne of King Behanzin. Joseph Mbarga writes in present tense, marking the topicality of a fight that is dear to him and with global implications. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter His heroes Mola and Alima, who work on a website, find themselves confronted with an international organisation of traffickers looting the art objects of the Babone people. Mbarga’s stripped-down style helps to focus on the plot, 470 pages of advocacy for the return to Africa of cultural and religious objects taken during colonisation. This is a page-turner and I can’t wait for Mbarga’s next novel."