Taking its title from Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Tahar Ben Jalloun's short novel addresses issues of racism and post colonial urban ethnic oppression in a powerful and poetic fashion. The story of a young Algerian girl living with her family in the suburbs of Paris, this novel recounts how her family's house is razed by local administrators motivated by jealousy, greed, and racism. Nadia's rage finds its release in her political action and activism, which, in turn, leads to powerful family tensions from the results of cultural and gender roles.
