MY LIFE STORY

This book presents the life history of an ordinary- -yet very unique Kabyle woman. Fadhma Amrouche was born in 1882/1883 in an Algerian village. Never legitimized by her father, she was subject to endless ridicule by the villagers, prompting her mother to send her away to convent school for her own protection. It was at another convent where her future husband first noticed her, and where they were married, necessitating her conversion to Christianity. In the pages of this book, Amrouche describes her schooling, her marriage, and her children. Her personal and family struggles are the clear focus, while world wars, epidemics and the war of independence flicker through the background. She never had it easy, and she never felt at home, not in France, Tunisia, her husband's house, or even her own village. But when you consider the time period she lived through, how different was her experience, in the end, from those of her compatriots?