We learn from the very start that the reason she is writing this letter is because her husband has passed away recently. The novel starts of with Ramatoulaye Fall writing a letter to her lifelong friend Aissatou Bâ. Most books in this genre are strongly rooted in culture and one gets the most out of these books if they know a little background information. This novel will be a challenge if you are not familiar with contemporary African women’s literature or post-colonial literature. If you are at all interested in post-colonial African literature this is a must read. The theme is the condition of women in Western African society and the transition from colonialism to modernism in a Muslim country. In fact, for most of the book I felt like I was bombarded with images of African culture. Despite not being in the original language it was written in, this novel resembles an epic poem and the author has a very special way of crafting images out of words. It’s translated from French and done so very well. “So Long a Letter” resembles an autobiographical novel and is kind of like the title suggests a long letter. It is in fact one of Africa’s 100 Best Books of the 20 th Century and the winner of the Noma Award. Nonetheless, “ So Long a Letter” by Senegalese author Mariama Bâ is deserving of recognition. My reading adventures continued today with a book that most people do not come across at their local bookstore or on the list of top 100 books to read before you die.
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