So Long a Letter
Published on 1. October 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-1-80328-912-0 (ISBN)
Description
Mariama Ba'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 Ba 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
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 Ba 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
Reviews / Votes
Mariama Ba 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 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
120 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80328-912-0 (9781803289120)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Mariama Ba was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1929. Brought up by her grandparents after the early death of her mother, Ba'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 Ecole Normale, Ba 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 Ba died in 1981.
Translated from French by Modupe Bode-Thomas.
After winning the first prize in the entrance examination to train as a teacher at Ecole Normale, Ba 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 Ba died in 1981.
Translated from French by Modupe Bode-Thomas.