So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba

[So Long A Letter takes place in Senegal, a one-time French colony on the western coast of Africa where the citizens speak French and follow Islam. At the beginning of the novel, the main character Ramatoulaye loses her estranged husband Modou Fall to a sudden heart attack. He has just taken seventeen-year-old Binetou as his second wife and virtually abandoned Ramatoulaye, which is legally and socially acceptable in a Muslim society. The following excerpt describes part of the Muslim funerary tradition, according to which Ramatoulaye is compelled not only to entertain hordes of mourners but also to house her "co-wife," in addition to other indignities she endeavors to tolerate with grace under pressure.]

ON THE THIRD DAY, the same comings and goings of friends, relatives, the poor, the unknown. The names of the deceased, who was popular, had mobilized a buzzing crowd, welcomed in my house that has been stripped of all that could be stolen, all that could be spoilt. Mats of all sorts...