Algeria Is Beautiful Like America

Olivia had always heard stories about Algeria from her maternal

grandmother, a Black Foot (a "Pied-Noir," the French term for Christian and

Jewish settlers of French Algeria who emigrated to France after the Algerian War

of Independence). After her grandmother's death, Olivia found some of her

grandmother's journals and letters describing her homeland. Now, ten years

later, she resolves to travel to Algeria and experience the country for herself;

she arrives alone, with her grandmother's postcards and letters in tow, and

a single phone number in her pocket of an Algerian, Djaffar, who will act

as her guide. Olivia's quest to understand her origins will bring her to face

questions about heritage, history, shame, friendship, memory, nostalgia,

fantasy, the nature of exile, and our unending quest to understand who we are

and where we come from.