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.