Ba's education

This past week I read the West African novel, So Long a Letter, by Mariama Ba. Like all outstanding literature, So Long a Letter takes the reader to a place of questions, possibilities, and commentary on the world we inhabit. Briefly, the novel concerns a Senegalese woman’s reminiscences. In the form of a long letter to her friend the narrator recounts her husband’s betrayal of their marriage vows. Ba’s language is poetic and austere. It depicts a world o...