THE AQUATICS

An African woman’s life is torn apart after the arrest of her best friend.

Katmé Abbia appears to have a picture-perfect life. She’s married to a rising political star in the fictional African country of Zambuena, Tashun Abbia, the prefect of the nation’s capital; the couple has twin daughters together. She spends time with her best friend, Samy Pankeu, an artist on the verge of opening his first solo exhibition, one that is sharply critical of the country’s social and political culture: “In Zambuena, people weren’t arrested for expressing disagreement with the president or his party anymore. Samy had the right to sculpt and write what he wanted, to criticize whomever he chose. That was his role. The important thing was that he have no political ambitions, and since he didn’t, there was nothing to fear.” Then things start to go bad. Samy is arrested after a newspaper reports that he’s gay; he’s raped and tortured in jail, and his gallerist is beaten and humiliated by “Defenders of Morality.” Tashun becomes increasingly physically abusive, angered by Katmé’s attempts to free her friend from prison. Meanwhile, Katmé must coordinate the reburial of her mother, who died when Katmé was 13, and whose grave must be moved to make way for a highway. In Katmé, first-time author Lewat has created a memorable character who alternates between moments of weakness and strength in a way that feels thoroughly human. She addresses themes of political corruption and homophobia with an incandescent anger—at times, the novel reads a bit heavy-handed, but there’s no doubting Lewat’s sincerity. The prose, translated by Baudet-Lackner, is quite good, and the dialogue is mostly realistic, save for a few lines that seem forced.

A promising first book from a writer to watch.