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Cover of So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ

So Long a Letter

Mariama Bâ

  • 120 pages · about 2 hours
  • First published 1980
  • 34 editions
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1 About this book

So Long a Letter (French: Une si longue lettre) is a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel originally written in French by the Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. It was her first novel. Its theme is the condition of women in Western African society.

As the novel begins, Ramatoulaye Fall is beginning a letter to her lifelong friend Aissatou Bâ. The occasion for writing is Ramatoulaye's recent widowhood. As she gives her friend the details of her husband's death, she recounts the major events in their lives.

The novel is often used in literature classes focusing on women's roles in post-colonial Africa. It won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1980.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Africa
  • Social science
  • Women teachers
  • Women
  • Teachers
  • Women's fiction
  • Widows
  • Biographical

2 About Mariama Bâ

1929–1981

Mariama Bâ (April 17, 1929–August 17, 1981) was a Senegalese author and feminist, who wrote in French. Born in Dakar, she was raised a Muslim, but at an early age came to criticise what she perceived as inequalities between the sexes resulting from African traditions. Raised by her traditional grandparents, she had to struggle even to gain an education, because they did not believe that girls should be taught.

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