I wanted to read a book that was translated into English for Book Club. Whatever the reason, I am glad I read this story. Told "in the right order," Blaise Fortune (Koumail) recounts his life fleeing Georgia in 1989 from one refugee camp to another for 8 years with Gloria.

A wonderful read. ( )

Das ist ein wirklich schönes Buch, nicht nur für Jugendliche.
Einerseits erzählt es die Geschichte eines Flüchtlingskindes aus dem Kaukasus, das nach Frankreich flieht. Die Heimatlosigkeit, die ständige Bedrohung, aber auch die schönen hoffnungsvollen Erlebnisse werden deutlich. Das Buch kann also Verständnis und Empathie erzeugen, v.a. für den einfachen Zufall, wer wo wann geboren wird.
Im dritten Drittel wird aber auch die Geschichte selbst nochmal neu gewendet und auch das ist interessant. Denn am Ende bleibt immer die Frage nach der Identität, v.a. wenn die Herkunft unklar ist.
Das Buch ist also sehr schön und beeindruckend. Auch als Hörbuch ist es wunderbar. ( )

Vivid, moving refugee story. ( )

Increïblement tendre i meravellós.
Kumail, un niño de siete años, huye con Gloria (la mujer que se ha hecho cargo de él tras la muerte de su madre en un atentado terrorista) de las guerras independentistas de los países del Cáucaso. Su meta es Francia, país en el que depositan su esperanza de un futuro mejor. Pero hasta llegar a ese país sufrirán diversas penalidades —trabajos insalubres, mendicidad, hambre y pobreza absoluta— que pondrán en peligro su propia relación. Tiempo de milagros es una conmovedora historia de exilio sobre la verdad, la mentira y la búsqueda de la felicidad. ( )

Blaise Fortune has lived all his short life in the Caucasus, where he is called Koumail and lives with his beloved Gloria, the woman who cares for him. He loves to hear the story of how he came to be with Gloria: the train accident that separated him from his mother, how Gloria took him in and how one day he will go back to France to live. He and Gloria live in the Complex, hiding from the militia who have been waging war ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

When Blaise is about seven years old, the Complex is raided and he and Gloria set off on a long journey to the west, with France as their aim. Gloria has his passport as well as that of his mother, rescued from the train along with his infant self. They will get new photos, she says, and enter France as Jeanne and Blaise Fortune.

As they travel, they meet other refugees fleeing the madness of Eastern Europe and eventually get a ride to France in a pig truck. But when Blaise wakes up in the back of the truck, Gloria is gone and he is taken into custody by the authorities. Will they believe his story? Will they accept his passport? Will Blaise ever find his long-lost mother? And what happened to Gloria?

This is a moving story about what happens when lives are disrupted by war, the hardships refugees have to endure and a boy’s search for his true identity. Full of interesting characters and exotic locations, this book spans Europe from Georgia to the north coast of France. ( )