The Silence of the Choir

March 25, 2024
This uneven novel­—originally published in 2017—from Senegalese author Sarr, who later won the Prix Goncourt for The Most Secret Memory of Men, follows a group of 27 Libyan refugees who are waiting anxiously in the small Sicilian town of Altino for their asylum hearings and the locals who keep tabs on them. Among the Sicilians engaging with the ragazzi (the guys, as they call the refugees) are Sandro Calvino, a reactionary nationalist and cryptoracist running for president of the immigration commission, and Maurizio Mangialepre, the town mayor, whose shifting political allegiances may leave the ragazzi vulnerable. Bearing witness at the center of the narrative is Jogoy, a former refugee who now lives in Sicily securely, and who has the unenviable position of cultural mediator between the residents and the Libyans. Tensions build when nationalists in Altino move to force the ragazzi out, blaming them for a burst septic tank and the rape and murders of three local women. A climax involving a statue that comes to life and a volcanic eruption evoke the magical realism and natural disasters found in the works of Gabriel García Márquez and William Faulkner, although it ends without resolving the difficult questions posed by the story. Sarr’s admirers will be pleased, but his debut, Brotherhood, remains a better starting point for readers new to his work.