Michèle Bréant

Driss and Manuel both grew up on the same council estate. An estate where the sense of belonging to your patch is much stronger than the sense of belonging to a country, a nation or a culture... Manuel has assimilated this belonging, and he has even benefited from it and built his life on it. Driss, meanwhile, has shunned it. They will both have to face up to the consequences of their decisions – because they will each have a price to pay…

A small, old-fashioned cafe in a suburban square, opposite the cemetery, the Hirondelle. Every day at half past six, the customers dance with their stories and tirades, totally amazing.