Dec 29, 2009

So Long a Letter | Author Biography

Mariama Bâ's first novel, So Long a Letter, features two female characters—Ramatoulaye Fall and Aissatou Bâ—whose lives follow trajectories similar to the author's own. Like these women, Bâ was educated in a Western-type school in her native Senegal. She, again like her heroines, not only witnessed Senegal's transformation from a French colony to an independent country, but as a teacher was active in easing her country through the transition. However, while Bâ's heroines seek personal fulfillment after their marriages fail, Bâ herself became an advocate for women's...