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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 rights. Divorced, like her character Aissatou, Bâ joined several feminist organizations in Senegal. Particularly, Bâ pointed out the problems women face in polygamous marriages.

Bâ, who was born in 1929, lived a somewhat privileged life. She was given the opportunity to study at the Ecole Normale at a time when many Africans, and especially women, did not have access to education. Raised...
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