39 Berne Street

<p><b>My mother says that there are things in life that she can't forgive . . .</b><br /><b><br /></b>At age 16 Dipita's mother Mbila arrived in Switzerland from Cameroon. Trafficked into Europe she supported herself and her son as a prostitute in Geneva. Dipita now a young black gay man serving a five-year sentence in a Swiss prison shares their story and his own search for purpose. He intertwines their stories with the life of Uncle Démoney a former civil servant in Cameroon who staked everything on sending his sister to Switzerland.<br /><br /><i>39 Berne Street </i>explores the complex themes of prostitution immigration and homosexuality through a fluid and expressive prose that makes it ring true. Originally published in French it won the Prix du Roman des Romands in 2014.<br /><br />Max Lobe's <i>39 Berne Street</i> vividly describes the unforgivable actions visited by family members upon family members in desperate bids for survival and contentment in the midst of Dipita's struggle toward forgiveness and acceptance.</p>