124. So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
Title: So Long a Letter* Author: Mariama Bâ Translator: Madupe Bode-Thomas Genre: Fiction Publishers: African Writers Series Classics Original Language: French Pages: 97 Year of First Publication: 1979 Country: Senegal Mariama Bâ's epistolary novella, So Long a Letter , voted as one of the best African books in the twentieth Century , is a commentary on Senegal's, and by extension Africa's, patriarchal society and the role of tradition and customs in maintaining and perpetuating the status quo. To some extent, the novella also portrays certain inherent weaknesses in some women when faced with the opportunity to finally take flight. It also opens up such feminist topics as polygamy, providing a different angle to the old story from a woman's perspective. Consequently, it has been described in some quarters as the first African feminist book and the author's overt use of 'New African Woman', 'Independence', 'Liberation'...