What the Day Owes the Night, By Yasmina Khadra

Once a counter-terrorism officer in Algeria, now a French-based writer of sophisticated political thrillers under a pseudonym, "Yasmina Khadra" here returns home, and digs further into the roots of violence.

Broader in its canvas then his page-turning stories of Baghdad or Kabul, this tale of family, love and war unfolds in Algeria before and during the revolt that led to independence from France.

Its hero, Younes, is a divided soul and a trenchant witness to both the glory and squalor of the uprising. Rich in incident and character (and ably translated by Frank Wynne), the novel shows us from within the colonised Algeria that Camus – as he acknowledged – could only glimpse as an outsider.