The book's hero, an Algerian teenager, loves mathematics, music and football. He realized early on that, born into a poor family, nothing good awaited him in this life: either a dull job for pennies in a factory, or joining a street gang. Having saved some money, with the blessing of his grandfather, he decides to take a desperately bold step: he illegally flees from Algeria to France. But the intoxication of the first breaths of freedom quickly passes. An Arab guy without documents, who doesn’t know a word of French, has to agree to any job, live from hand to mouth, and sleep in squalid rooms. But he knows it won't last long. The main thing is to get an education. And he enters a technical school. It would seem that the hardest part is already over. But then fate deals him a crushing blow. Waking up one morning, he realizes that he sees nothing - there is a solid red veil before his eyes. Months of treatment and several operations end in nothing. He's going blind. His new homeland is ready to take him into care. But is this what he came here for? Having escaped from one cage, he does not agree to sit in another. And he intends to prove to himself and the world that he is stronger than blindness.