Raymond Dossougbe flees the misery of his hometown in Benin and arrives in Toronto, where he is immediately charmed by it. He sees the city as a place of freedom and light, a sanctuary where he, like so many others, can begin anew. But as he becomes familiar with the city and its inhabitants, he realizes that his Afro-Caribbean roommates look like him but aren’t his brothers. He discovers a free community that is mentally shackled, stuck in the past, unable and unwilling to adapt. He sees deep poverty, extreme wealth, and the consequences of police brutality. Eventually he finds his bearings in this new world and comes to a better understanding of his new self and the colourful characters around him.

Toronto je t'aime won the Prix Trillium when it first came out in 2000.

Translated from French by Elaine Kennedy.

Fiction. African & African American Studies.