Chasing Walls

There are walls that oppress in the name of peace, brutal walls that exist at the threshold of genocide.

In this stunning novel, Albert is a journalist who makes his way from Berlin to Korea to Northern Ireland, from Western Sahara to Palestine, from Kashmir to Mexico and Brazil. His long odyssey reveals the theaters of war, torture, and inhumanity that still exist in the world, caused by walls.

This story is an alert to these realities that are hidden behind ignorance, apathy, and indifference.

Humanity is in a backward way. Today’s issue of Syrian refugees has wakened the medieval and dark fears that are inconsistent with the defense of the most basic rights of all human beings. What do we do, but build walls to defend ourselves, as if they are the solution for all problems, yet those that still exist prove otherwise.

When we accept that we were once all refugees and others welcomed us, this should be the path we must follow to conquer the humanist’s values and evolve towards our humanization. Otherwise, we will fall again into barbarity.

The noblest role of literature is its potential to change the world of what in it is wrong, breaking prejudices and barriers of ignorance and indifference. This book meets that noble mission. Albert wants to raise awareness, force us to reflect on our responsibility as human beings towards others who live in oppressive situations. 

Ana Filomena Amaralgrew up in the small village of Avintes, near Oporto, Portugal. She wants to end “the suffering, pain, and misery caused by the still existent walls.” This is her sixth novel, the second published in America.