Bonnie and Mansour meet in mid-century New York in the novel They Dream in Gold. They have things in common: messy childhoods and time spent in France. But how they meet comes about through unusual circumstances, perhaps destiny: Bonnie is adrift in the world, toiling away for now in the basement of a record company where she comes across liner notes for Mansour’s debut album.
Intrigued, she later creates album art for it and sneaks it into the pile going out for printing. After she’s caught — by her lover’s wife, no less — she finally meets Mansour.
It’s something much deeper than love at first sight. But there are many currents flowing below and between their lives. Their love story is fraught and full of pain; they leave New York after a tragic death and move back to Europe.
This is an achingly lyrical story with memorable characters. Mansour grew up an orphan, lives with a crippling medical condition and is a black man living in 1960s and 1970s France, United States and Switzerland. He has the air of tragedy about him but struggles forward always.
His adoptive mother seems cold, until you learn about her own battles. Bonnie’s mother, too, is paying forward generational pain. But Bonnie and Mansour are bound by more than pain, and that gives the story hope.
With her debut novel, Mai Sennaar has created an evocative atmosphere in this rare and beautiful visualisation of Afro-diasporic life in mid-century Europe. With rhythms similar to Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water, and equally lyrical, the story here goes deeper. Although there is a thread of fabulism woven through, Sennaar’s storytelling has us taking it all in our stride. They Dream in Gold is a love letter to difficult families, and to love itself.
• They Dream in Gold is published by Picador.
This article first appeared in The Continent, the pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with the Mail & Guardian. It’s designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. Download your free copy here