Corazón de almendra

Life has not been kind to Nestor. Rejected at birth by his mother, Brigitte—who could not bear the fact that he was abnormally small—he lives with his grandmother, who took him in and whom he adores. She pays the bills with her pension as a language teacher, while her grandson, fueled by incurable optimism, finds a thousand ways to brighten their daily lives in the Barbès neighborhood—a place where diverse peoples, destinies, and despairs all mingle. But the day the old woman begins to lose her mind and must be placed in a care home, Brigitte decides to sell the apartment that serves as the only sanctuary for the son she still refuses to acknowledge. Nestor is devastated. All he has left is the raw intensity of his dreams and the words his grandmother taught him—words he will furiously pour onto the page to scream out his will to live. In the neighborhood, his Arab friends call him "Almond Heart." That will be the title of his book. And who knows... There is always a chance of success.