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Interviews | October 6, 2009

Jill Owens: IMG The Powells.com Interview with Margaret Atwood

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margaretatwoodIn her 2003 novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood describes a future after humanity had been almost entirely wiped out by a plague. Jimmy, aka Snowman, lives... Continue »
  1. $18.86 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    The Year of the Flood

    Margaret Atwood

So Long a Letter (African Writers Series #248)

by Mariama Ba

So Long a Letter (African Writers Series #248) Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

    It is not only the fact that this is the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction that gives distinction to this novel, but also its undoubted literary qualities, which seem to place it among the best novels that have come out of our continent.
    - West Africa
This novel is a perceptive testimony to the plight of articulate women who live in social milieux dominated by attitudes and values that deny them their proper place. It is a sequence of reminiscences, some wistful, some bitter, recounted by a recently widowed Senegalese school teacher. The letter, addressed to an old friend, is a record of her emotional struggle for survival after her husband's abrupt decision to take a second wife. Although his action is sanctioned by Islam, it is a calculated betrayal of his wife's trust and a brutal rejection of their life together.

Review:

It is not only the fact that this is the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction that gives distinction to this novel, but also its undoubted literary qualities, which seem to place it among the best novels that have come out of our continent.West Africa

Synopsis:

An intense and poised novel in the form of a letter written by Ramatou

Synopsis:

An intense and poised novel in the form of a letter written by Ramatoulaye, who has recently been widowed.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
bookluver, April 27, 2009 (view all comments by bookluver)
"So Long a Letter" by Mariama Ba is a spectacular book. Ramatoulaye is a widow when the novel begins. We meet her while she is in mourning. Soon, we learn about the other sorrows of her heart. Times throughout which she cried and cried. Her healing strength comes through writing this letter to Aissatou. Because the friendship means so much to her Ramatoulaye names her daughter after Aissatou. I thought this was a beautiful way of showing appreciation for a friend who always had a listening ear and a nonjudgmental heart.

In this letter to Aissatou, Ramatoulaye gives details about her marriage to Madou Fall. This lengthy letter is like a flashback in time. Both Aissatou and Ramatoulaye faced the identical situation with their men. Each woman chose a different way to handle their new circumstances. Still, neither woman judges the other woman.

I adored the book for so many reasons. I loved the friendship between the two African women. I enjoyed learning about the West African culture and I liked learning more about the African male. At the last page, I had my pen ready to write down other titles by Mariama Ba. Unfortunately, this is her first and last novel. "Ba died tragically in 1981 in Dakar after a long illness, just before her second novel Le Chant Ecarlate appeared. "So Long A Letter" by Mariamb Ba is translated from the French by Modupe Bode-Thomas.

If anyone can translate the French phrase, I would appreciate knowing the name of the novel in English.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780435905552
Publisher:
Heinemann
Location:
London :
Translator:
Modupe-Bode-Thomas
Author:
Modupe-Bode-Thomas
Author:
Mariama Ba
Author:
Mariama, Ba
Subject:
General
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Women
Subject:
Senegal
Subject:
Epistolary fiction
Edition Description:
laye, who has recently been widowed.
Series:
African writers series ;
Series Volume:
248
Publication Date:
19890628
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
96
Dimensions:
7.86x5.16x.25 in. .18 lbs.
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