C Fardoe

Before the World Opened C Fardoe

Ilari Sagastizabal inhabits a very small world. Raised in the mountains of Basque Country in a town with no name, Ilari is the local leader's son. He has spent his life preparing to take up arms in the name of The Organisation, a nationalist resistance group - and he has done so gladly, his faith in the cause unshakable. When a dangerous mission comes up and he is chosen to go along, Ilari feels like his dreams have come true. But the reality of fighting for freedom is a stark contrast to what he imagined. Freedom is not free. Conflicted and fearful, Ilari begins sneaking out of town with increasing frequency, spending time in the nearby city of Bilbao. But a chance meeting with the local police causes him to veer sharply off the narrow life path he is expected to follow. Arrested and deported, he finds himself living temporarily in a place unlike anywhere he has ever known, among the people who are supposed to be his enemies - and he begins to question who the real enemy might be. As he discovers the world outside his hometown, Ilari contemplates the very real possibility that he has grown up believing a lie and and struggles to come to terms with the prospect of going home now that he knows the truth.