An African writer seeks in Salvador de Bahia, the first colonial city of Brazil, the traces of its roots. The irruption of the "Writer"? The daily life of the inhabitants of Pelourinho, the historical center, former headquarters of the slave market and also the name of the post in which they were publicly beaten. Two characters guide us through the slums, where we live from the rapine and the assault under the protection of the ancient African gods. One is a thief without apparent scruples; The other, a blind woman who sees everything. In the course of their double story, inextricable genealogical ties are woven, in the image of the ambiguous relations that unite and separate the original Africa and America from the diaspora. Between streets, bars and favelas, where black cabéis are trampled, black and round cobblestones called by slave owners, the tragedy of the origin is represented at every moment: the passionate and violent - and vain? - search for identity .

Tender Monénembo (1947). He fled Guinea, his native country, during the dictatorship of Ahmed Sékou Touré. Since then he has lived in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco and Brazil. Trainee scientist, holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Lyon, France. He is the author, among others, of: The scales of the sky (Great Prize of Black Africa and special mention of Foundation L. S. Senghor); The king of Kahel (Prize Renaudot); And The Black Terrorist. His sixth novel, The Greatest of Orphans, is part of the project "Rwanda: Writing for the Duty of Memory".