90. Mema by Daniel Mengara
Title: Mema Author: Daniel Mengara Genre: Fiction Publisher: Heinemann (African Writers Series) Pages: 122 Year of First Publication: 2003 Country: Gabon Read for the Africa Reading Challenge Mema is a reflective novel in the first person. It's about a young boy recollecting the days of his childhood and of his village and how things have perhaps changed. However, the novel is more than just the reflections and recollections of a young boy. Through this reflections and recollections, Elang Sima - the narrator, tells of how his mother whom he referred to only as Mema remained strong - physically and emotionally - in all her decisions, refusing to succumb to traditional roles and societal pressures. Mema is known to be strong, bold and irrepressible. She has the proclivity to play all the manly roles in her household, caring not what others would think of her. She attended all medzo instead of her husband and she was fluent, traditionally, interspersi...