Du Sang sur la dune. Algérie 1920. Roman colonial

The condition of women in Muslim society

Dib saw again the undulating body, deliciously swelled at the chest by the amber of her breasts. Suddenly, a flame of desire kindled within him. He suddenly felt the peppery taste of Meriem's kiss on his lips. When she wrapped her arms around his waist, he was ready to swoon, so much did he wait impatiently for the amorous ecstasy.

It was she who taught him pleasure. She treated him like an adolescent who had not yet finished his initiation. Then she was grave like a priestess of sensuality. The embrace became a kind of rite of which she revealed the secret only little by little. She brought a dark ardor to this game that led her slowly to swooning.

At dawn, he would wake up unable to make a move, more weary than from having walked all day in the sun, in the immense monotony of the dunes. She laughed to see him lying powerless on the bed. No doubt she thus savored, in a confused way, a revenge as a female of Islam, happy to dominate the male in her turn.

It is through this liaison between the camel driver Dib and Meriem, a beautiful and prestigious dancer from the Ouled-Nail tribe, that a true tragedy begins. Agha Senouci, Meriem's violent and cruel master, will have his rival assassinated. To avenge her lover, Meriem will seduce Si Otmane, son of the marabout of the Ouled-Amor.

There will be blood on the dune once again.

Notes by Wolf Albes

Reissue of the original 1942 edition (Editions Baconnier Freres, Algiers): Du sang sur la dune