Scarlet Song
Will be published approx. on 10. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
202 pages
978-1-0359-3044-9 (ISBN)
Description
From Mariama Ba, the acclaimed author of So Long a Letter, comes a powerful tale of love, identity, and cultural collision.
When Ousmane Gueye, a gifted Senegalese student from a modest Muslim background, falls in love with Mireille, the privileged daughter of a French diplomat, their romance defies tradition, family expectations, and societal norms - but love alone cannot shield them from the pressures threatening to undo them.
With lyrical precision and unflinching honesty, Mariama Ba exposes the fragility and enduring weight of tradition in a rapidly changing world.
Translated by Dorothy S. Blair
Discover more from the APOLLO AFRICA series: the new home for 100 timeless works from the legendary Heinemann African Writers Series.
When Ousmane Gueye, a gifted Senegalese student from a modest Muslim background, falls in love with Mireille, the privileged daughter of a French diplomat, their romance defies tradition, family expectations, and societal norms - but love alone cannot shield them from the pressures threatening to undo them.
With lyrical precision and unflinching honesty, Mariama Ba exposes the fragility and enduring weight of tradition in a rapidly changing world.
Translated by Dorothy S. Blair
Discover more from the APOLLO AFRICA series: the new home for 100 timeless works from the legendary Heinemann African Writers Series.
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 *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
205 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0359-3044-9 (9781035930449)
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
Person
Mariama Ba was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1929. 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. 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. Ba died in 1981.
Dorothy S. Blair (1913-1998) was a British scholar and translator of Francophone African literature. She was a professor of French, and translated major works by Mariama Ba, Assia Djebar, and Amin Maalouf.
Dorothy S. Blair (1913-1998) was a British scholar and translator of Francophone African literature. She was a professor of French, and translated major works by Mariama Ba, Assia Djebar, and Amin Maalouf.