Living in France but ravaged by memories of war in Algeria, Mohand-Said has withdrawn into his own world. Xavier retraces the steps of his dignified and strong-willed illiterate father: from Kabylia to the factory in Normandy where his he would spend the rest of life. As he breaks with tradition, Xavier finds which doors slam closed and which open.
Xavier Le Clerc is a celebrated French Algerian novelist and poet. His third novel Un homme sans titre was met with wide critical acclaim in France where it was awarded four literary prizes: the Prix de l'Académie des Belles Lettres et des Sciences Caen, the Prix de la Grande Mosquée de Paris, the Prix du live de La Tribune and the Grand Prix du Roman Métis. Le Clerc holds two Master's degrees from the Sorbonne, in Human Sciences and in Comparative Literature. Born Hamid Aït-Taleb, he changed his name in his early thirties because of discrimination he faced. Born in Kabylia, Algeria, Xavier grew up in Normandy and now lives with his husband between Paris and Kent.