Das Nachleben der Vergangenheit

Raphaëlle Red grew up in Paris and today lives in Berlin. Adikou, her exceptional debut novel, is about a young woman who embarks on a journey. She goes in search of her ancestral roots, exploring her belonging and the inner conflict that she feels.

Adikou, the novel’s main character, is the daughter of a French woman and a Togolese. She knows very little about her family background, not even how to pronounce her name properly. Then, one day when she can no longer stand her chic urban Parisian life, she travels to Togo. She isn’t sure what she is actually searching for. The others ask questions about who her father is and whether she is black, white or both and what she is looking for here in Togo? Much remains elusive for her. She travels from the African west coast to the USA, beginning to collect stories, to explore the past and present. One day, Adikou hears the voice of her disappeared father. She is bursting with questions: how present is the past? How current is colonial history? How present are slavery, trafficking, humiliation in the life of a young European woman?

*** BIOGRAPHIE ***

Raphaëlle Red
b. 1997. Author and social scientist. Her most recent research focuses on contemporary literature of the African diaspora. She writes in French, English and German. Adikou, 2024 published by Rowohlt, is her debut novel.