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So Long a Letter

Mariama Bâ,

Modupé Bodé-Thomas (Translator)

Start date: August 15, 2018

Finish date: September 15, 2018

Discussion: Group Reads Discussions

Why we're reading this: August BOTM - Translated Fiction by a Female Author
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What Members Thought

Sep 24, 2015 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: travel-the-world

I enjoyed this book almost as much as Maraire's Zenzele, which Is also written as an epistle. Ramatoulaye has just buried her husband, and is writing to a very good friend, Aissatou with whom she grew up and remained very close. This is the story of what is happening all over Africa, the struggle between traditional values and modern society, particularly in the Muslim countries. They have much in common: their very successful husbands, married a second wife ( which they didn't know about until ...more

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Sep 12, 2018 Ra rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, african-writer, scribd

A relatively short novel that deals with the challenges facing women in Africa or any traditional society. The novel is in the form of a letter written by recently widowed Ramatolaye to her friend Assiatou. Both are middle-aged Singalese women who have been friends since childhood.

Ramatoulaye meanders in her narrative, detailing her suffering when her husband abandoned her for a younger wife. She goes through the histories of wives who have gone through similar experiences, including Assiatou he ...more

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