Tears of Salt: A Doctor's Story

Lampedusa is a tiny island off the coast of north Africa, but it's part of Italy and therefore Europe, which means that in recent years its 6,000 inhabitants have often been joined, daily, by hundreds of African migrants, many near death and some for whom it is too late. Bartolo, the son of a Lampedusan fisherman, has been the director of the island's only medical clinic for over 25 years, serving the island and its visitors with open arms and an often angry sense of justice. His memoir of his life and work is spare, harrowing, and beautiful, making no larger political or economic arguments, just clear statements of human compassion against indifference and cruelty.