Les Belles de Tunis is a novel by Nine Moati, first published in 1983 by Éditions du Seuil.
The book retraces the live of a Tunisian Jewish family in Tunis from 1856 to the Tunisian independence. It is also a description of 100 years of Jewish life in Tunisia. Furthermore in the book, you find autobiographical traces of the Moati family, mainly of Serge Moati pére. The author of the book, Nine Moati, is the sister of the French artist Serge Moati fils (son).
In 2004, a special pocket version of the book was edited by the Editions Cérès (ISBN 9973-19-48-7) for the Tunisian lectureship (in French). This edition contains a special preface by Nine Moati for the Tunisian public.
Les Belles de Tunis is considered as one of the most successful books of Nine Moati. As of (18.8.2007) there is no English translation of the book. An Arabic translation of "les Belles de Tunis" is in preparation.
Famous quotes containing the words les and/or belles:
“The deer and the dachshund are one.
Well, the gods grow out of the weather.
The people grow out of the weather;
The gods grow out of the people.
Encore, encore, encore les dieux . . .”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Learning has been as great a Loser by being shut up in Colleges and Cells, and secluded from the World and good Company. By that Means, every Thing of what we call Belles Lettres became totally barbarous, being cultivated by Men without any Taste of Life or Manners, and without that Liberty and Facility of Thought and Expression, which can only be acquir’d by Conversation.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)