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    As The Crow Flies
    As The Crow Flies
    As The Crow Flies
    Ebook92 pages49 minutes

    As The Crow Flies

    By Véronique Tadjo

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    From the winner of the 2022 Los Angeles Times Book Award, As the Crow Flies is Véronique Tadjo's evocative collection of short stories.

    Writing in exquisite, poetic prose, Véronique Tadjo weaves together a rich tapestry of characters – all nameless and faceless – as they tell their stories of parting and return, losing and gaining, suffering and healing.

    Like a bird in flight, Tadjo travels across a borderless landscape composed of tales of daily existence, news reports, allegories and ancestral myths, creating a lyrical and moving portrait of the interconnectedness of human life.

    'A mosaic of 20th-century life.' Guardian
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateDec 1, 2023
    ISBN9781803288789
    As The Crow Flies
    Author

    Véronique Tadjo

    Veronique is an award-winning poet, novelist, and painter and illustrator from the Côte d'Ivroire. She has lived in Paris, Lagos, Mexico City, London and Nairobi.

    Read more from Véronique Tadjo

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    • 5/5
      As the Crows Flies' slenderness and 21 vignettes in its 104 pages can mislead the reader to speed-read this book. The vignettes are slice-of-life, mythical, plotless, prose-filled , about love, and/or about nothing. And if the reader does not pace themselves, they could miss a gem completely. Tadjo is a brilliant author, and this is an immensely satisfying read.

    Book preview

    As The Crow Flies - Véronique Tadjo

    cover.jpg

    About Apollo Africa

    The original Heinemann African Writers Series was launched in 1962 with the publication of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Cyprian Ekwensi’s Burning Grass and Kenneth Kaunda’s Zambia Shall Be Free, with Achebe himself acting as an editorial advisor. Over the next 40 years, the series continued to publish the best writing from across the African continent.

    One of the founding aims of the Heinemann series was to make books by African writers available to as wide a readership as possible. Apollo Africa – a collaboration between Black Star Books and Head of Zeus – is proud to continue this work, ensuring novels, essays, poetry and plays from the original series are once again made available to readers all over the world.

    AS THE CROW FLIES

    Véronique Tadjo

    Translated by Wangũi wa Goro

    Please be aware that this book contains content readers may find upsetting, including outdated and offensive language.

    Black Star Books and Head of Zeus would like to thank the following organisations: The Miles Morland Foundation, The Ford Foundation, and Africa No Filter. This publication was made possible through their support.

    First published as A Vol d’Oiseau in 1991 by Nathan, Paris

    First published in the Heinemann African Writers Series in 2001 by Heinemann Educational Books

    This edition published in 2023 by Black Star Books and Head of Zeus, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

    img1.jpg

    Copyright © Véronique Tadjo, 1991 Translation copyright © Wangũi wa Goro, 2001

    The moral right of Véronique Tadjo to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

    The moral right of Wangũi wa Goro to be identified as the translator of this work into English has been asserted with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 and as recommended through the Translators Association of the Society of Authors.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

    This reprint is published by arrangement with Pearson Education Limited.

    This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

    A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

    ISBN (PB): 9781035900893

    ISBN (E): 9781803288789

    Head of Zeus Ltd

    First Floor East

    5–8 Hardwick Street

    London

    EC1R 4RG

    WWW.HEADOFZEUS.COM

    If you want to love

    Do so

    To the ends of the earth

    With no shortcuts

    Do so

    As the crow flies.

    Indeed, I too would have loved to write one of those serene stories with a beginning and an end. But as you know only too well, it is never like that. Lives mingle, people tame one another and part. Destinies are lost.

    On looking at your reflection in the mirror you say, ‘I don’t like what I see.’ You are hurt by your weaknesses. You are hurt by your failures.

    Listen. If you cannot stand the thought of your rotting body when you are buried under the earth, or you are able to say: ‘I don’t want to rot, please burn me!’ then, you will be allowing the flowers of freedom to blossom. Your strength will spring from your scattered imperfections and with your common humanity you will fight against the ills erected as royal edifices over dunes of silence.

    Contents

    Title Page

    Copyright

    Dedication

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    Chapter Three

    Chapter Four

    Chapter Five

    Chapter Six

    Chapter Seven

    Chapter Eight

    Chapter Nine

    Chapter Ten

    Chapter Eleven

    Chapter Twelve

    Chapter Thirteen

    Chapter Fourteen

    Chapter Fifteen

    Chapter Sixteen

    Chapter Seventeen

    Chapter Eighteen

    Chapter Nineteen

    Chapter Twenty

    Chapter Twenty-One

    Translator’s Note and Acknowledgements

    About the Author

    About the Translator

    An Invitation from the Publisher

    Chapter One

    I

    He was a magnificent man with hands that smiled at anyone who knew how to look at them. His long fingers and the beauty of his gestures evoked poetry. But what made you dream was the rhythmic lilt in the tone of his voice and its ability to both speak and empathise.

    He had an unusual way of looking at you and a unique way of carrying himself. His whole force lay in his neck.

    He lived in one of those houses with a pointed roof, white windows and red brick walls. A small garden ran down to the road.

    The man was rich. Rich in his life. Rich in his family. You could hear the children’s laughter fill the atmosphere and decorate the home. This was a world apart.

    They met at the airport. She had travelled a long way and he came to pick her up as planned. On the way to the house, he pointed out the city’s monuments. She admired their beauty but did not say much.

    When he opened the door, she found the house infused with joy. She greeted everyone while he went to deposit her luggage in one of the rooms. That evening, the food was prepared with particular care. They had brought out a white tablecloth.

    She immediately liked her room. The bed was comfortable. There were green houseplants standing on the floor and a window overlooked the garden. She noticed a barbecue outside. A child’s bicycle leant against a tree.

    The next day they arranged to eat outdoors. Some friends came over to join them. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining high in the sky. As she watched him light the fire, she knew that she was going to love him.

    She craved for him every day. At night after closing the door, when she was on her own, she could hear sounds drifting from the room above. She listened attentively to their footsteps and she could hear taps running and the bath water draining away. When sleep eluded her, she

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