Showing results by author "Janvier Chouteu" in All Categories

A family is on the brink of collapse as the members deal with issues of the heart that reveal disloyalty, betrayal, grief, and insecurity. However, one area that does not buckle the trend is where men trained to save lives and work for humanity, exhibit strengths, and weaknesses that confirm the long-held view that interests supersede ideals, that love of life exposes the trait of treachery that resides even in some people with noble ideas. "The Doctors" is sequentially after "The Sweetest Madness" in the short story collection entitled "Me Before Them".

Just before Tatiana sets off to start a new life of deprivation, sacrifice, and sanctity, her insightful uncle helps her grapple with the meaning of life and come to terms with a world where people betray over a fickle, and where the quest for self-gratification supersedes the desire to live a divine purpose. “Hunger Fire” sequentially follows “The Grandmother': and Perfect Love” and precedes “The Fire and Ice Legend” in the short story collection entitled “Me Before Them”.

1 Corinthians 7:23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. When bright-eyed child prodigy Gavin Njike loses his family and pursues a hazy path of vengeance, he never imagined he could end up serving his family’s killers. However, that is the case after he joins the country’s intelligence. Things start to go wrong when he finds himself in the dark about operations. But, it is the death of the dissident visionary Vincent Chi that opens the floodgates of his memory, forcing him to grapple with the tragedies suffered by his family. Now, there is unrest boiling ...

Ketcha, a variously-gifted man stubbornly pursues a hazy path in life that brings only moments of joy and satisfaction, but no happiness. Over time, life becomes grim for him. It is as if there is no correlation between his thoughts, feelings and actions. He craves love and finds it more frequently than most men, but he can’t help acting against those who love him. He brings them joy, and then grief, even as he tries not to. His moments of satisfaction never transform into happiness as a loss he can’t get over haunts his present, seeming to doom him forever. Ketcha’s dedicated brother...

A young king is desperately trying to hold his kingdom together in the backdrop of his diminishing powers owing to the influence of the new French colonial masters. He flexes his muscles and takes his sister out of her conjugal home by arrogating to himself the use of his traditional powers over the issue of the bride price. Her overzealous uncle with an overactive imagination challenges the new king in a French court, thereby highlighting a bizarre but insightful case of the clash of occidental and African cultures. The beleaguered princess finds herself at a crossroads and acts the best ...

In this tumultuous story of rugged characters who retain their zest for life, the postulation that ideas are like fire holds, as events prove that ideas can burn the world as well as illuminate it. So, when old man Joe battles his descendants in their conflicting journeys through life, he does so in a manner that reveals man's innate goodness. However, by doing so, he is not advocating for humanity alone. In a world where it is increasingly relevant for the body to be in harmony with the mind, spirit, and soul, "Dark Shades" provides insights into the nature of a serene society and ...

When Lois Wyse wrote that “A mother becomes a true grandmother the day she stops noticing the terrible things her children do because she is so enchanted with the wonderful things her grandchildren do.”, she had no idea her words could be expatiated upon and applied in real life. But that is the case in “THE GRANDMOTHERS: and Perfect Love “, an extraordinary story of the influence of three remarkable grandmothers in the lives of their grandchildren, and their uphill battle to mitigate the negative influences of their irresponsible children. Janvier Chouteu-Chando takes the reader ...

When the debased Njoumen seeks sanctuary in his grandfather's royal palace, her number one concern is her mental health. As she glosses in her recovered status as a princess and unleashes the full force of her free-spiritedness, her unfamiliar ways make her the source of attention. But nobody has an idea of what would make her contented in life. That is until she engages her grandfather the king. What she wants most is a man to make her feel fulfilled in life, a sense of worth her husband never stirred in her bosom. So, when three years later, Njoumen's dejected husband challenges this ...

This is a story about a legend in that part of Africa called “Africa in Miniature”, “The Microcosm of Africa.” There was a time in the land when the story of Josef Nana Njike’s life and death became a popular narration. Different versions of the account have been told by those born before him, people who grew up with him, the mothers and fathers whose lives he touched, and the children he inspired. Josef’s life story quickly became a third-person narration, and from that, the legend was born. Still, all the narratives had one thing in common―the disadvantaged Josef Nana Njike ...

"I am Hated" is a luminous story with unexpected twists that explores security, love, family, loss and the realization that life holds no permanence and guarantees, especially the bitterness that comes with finally discovering the truth about those we love who are not there when we need them the most. In this story shedding light on the relationship between man and his best friend, the distraught Billy recounts his story to the Grand Master about an affluent life lived and about betrayal at the hands of his parents. "I am Hated" is the seventh account of the short story collection entitled ...

Marrying Sancho, the love of her life, is enough reason for Tatiana to forgo a desire to serve The Lord. So, the last day of their honeymoon in the exotic Windward and Leeward Caribbean islands of the Lesser Antilles is expected to be special. However, a terrorist attack calls into question this young couple's idyllic honeymoon. Suddenly Tatiana and Sancho find themselves in an atmosphere where love also entails killing for a set of beliefs. An escape from the reality of their world is all that Tatiana seeks. And she is determined to take Sancho with him. "The Sweetest Madness" comes before...

A teenage girl who is about to take a leap of faith seeks the counsel of his insightful uncle. But all he can provide are insights. Does a journey that takes her to the heart of altruism, charity and solidarity, bigotry, racism, and divine providence provide the guidelines that can help her come to terms with her destiny? Does his insightful hand-in-hand lead provide the answers she needs? “Fateful Ties” proceeds “The Fire and Ice Legend”, and precedes “The Sweetest Madness” in the short stories collection entitled “Me Before Them”.

En este valiente y escalofriante relato del espacio postsoviético, el autor nos proporciona una visión fascinante de Rusia, Ucrania, Bielorrusia y las otras repúblicas de la Unión Soviética a través del personaje más grande que la vida de Boris Petrenkov que nos lleva de la mano a su mundo, su mente y los personajes con los que interactúa. Este viaje suave y fascinante a una parte del mundo que la gente encuentra misteriosa viene con revelaciones explosivas que nos llevan a través de la historia desde los tiempos de la Rus de Kiev hace un milenio, hasta la Horda de Oro de los ...

Esta sucinta narración nos lleva sin esfuerzo a través de un milenio y medio de la historia formativa de la tierra que está en el centro de la geopolítica actual. Como la primera parte de un impresionante relato que nos lleva de la mano a través de la historia fundamental de la tierra descrita como "La Tierra Santa", "La Tierra Prometida", Israel y Palestina, esta narración proporciona una visión única de los planes, intentados y aún no articulados, para resolver el conflicto entre dos pueblos o naciones con profundas conexiones con la tierra, pero que no viven allí en paz porque ...