So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ

So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ

Mariama Bâ’s pioneering debut, So Long a Letter, captures the private lives of women in 1970s Senegal.

Recently widowed, Ramatoulaye is required to take sole responsibility for the long mourning process of her late husband. A husband she has not seen in over four years – not after he married his second wife. In a letter to her friend, Ramatoulaye recalls both of their experiences as students impatient to change the world, as wives suffering in the private sphere of marriage, and as mothers witnessing the dangers of Westernisation.

Undaunted by topics of polygamy, social castes, and religion, So Long a Letter is a novel rich with poetic prose and profound wisdom.

’Mariama Bâ is in a class of her own, conveying with real power and poetry a subtle, changing world of female experience.’ Guardian
‘The most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction.’ Abiola Irele

Mariama Bâ is in a class of her own, conveying with real power and poetry a subtle, changing world of female experience * Guardian *
The most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction -- Abiola Irele
One could not wish for a more politically alert and more passionately involved account of what life is like for educated Muslim women * London Review of Books *

Mariama Bâ was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1929. Brought up by her grandparents after the early death of her mother, Bâ's father fought to continue her education past primary school.

After winning the first prize in the entrance examination to train as a teacher at École Normale, Bâ taught in Dakar from 1947 until 1959 and later became an educational inspector.

A vocal activist for women's rights and class equality in Africa, her literary work often criticised the lack of educational opportunities offered to women as well as challenging the systems of polygamy and castes in Senegalese society.

Mariama Bâ died in 1981.

Translated from French by Modupé Bodé-Thomas.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781035906062
ISBN 10	1035906066
Title	So Long a Letter
Author	Mariama Bâ
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2024-12-05
Number of pages	144
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.