Two girls in search of their place in the world. A country governed by traditions and social differences. A friendship that knows no boundaries. Two little girls fall asleep holding hands.
Kenza has just lost her parents and is afraid of the dark, so Fatiha snuggles up beside her to help chase away the nightmares. Because the two friends are inseparable and always protect each other. But only while they are at home. Outside, however, it's as if they live on two different planets. Kenza is indeed the granddaughter of one of the most powerful men in Casablanca, while Fatiha is the daughter of the housekeeper.
Kenza attends a European school and is preparing to leave behind a backward and stifling Morocco to go study in Paris. Fatiha, on the other hand, has to deal with a reality where girls stop their studies as soon as their parents arrange a marriage and where freedom is a silently dreamed chimera.
However, there is one thing that unites them: the color of their passport. Despite the wealth and prestige of the family, Kenza too has a green passport, which in France and the rest of Europe allows her at most to be a temporary guest.
Thus, at the end of university, her visa is not renewed and, after four years, Kenza must return home, face again that country full of contradictions and above all Fatiha, the friend who knows every weakness of hers and whom, perhaps, more than anyone else she fears the judgment of.
Childhood has given way to adulthood and the paths of Kenza and Fatiha are now distant, however, the two girls have never stopped confronting each other, envying each other, loving each other. And, in the moment of need, they will be there, ready to take each other by the hand.
This is the story of two young women struggling to find their place in the world. It is the story - intimate and universal at the same time - of how social differences can wear down even the strongest bonds. It is the story of a friendship put to the test by the rules of a country very close to us, yet so different, teetering between emancipation and religious bonds, tradition, and modernity.
"This is the best novel to read to understand the contradictions of today's Moroccan society," Tahar Ben Jelloun "With this story, Mekouar paints an exceptional portrait of Moroccan society." Livres Hebdo "The green passport follows the two protagonists along a path that will take them further and further away. An exciting novel that opens your eyes to the contrasts of today's society."
Le Monde Zineb Mekouar was born in Casablanca in 1991 and has lived in Paris since 2009, where she studied Political Science and Economics. She lived in Florence for a year and has since regularly returned to Italy. The Green Passport is her debut novel and was among the finalists for the Goncourt Prize for the first work, Coup de cœur de l'été 2022 de l'Académie Goncourt and finalist for the Prix du Premier Roman