So Long a Letter

Ramatoulaye, also known as Rama, is a recently-widowed Senegalese Muslim woman. She has received a letter from her friend, Aissatou, who is divorced, and begins composing her own letter in response. Rama has been isolated in her home following the death of her husband, Modou, who died shortly before the beginning of the novel from a heart attack. This ritualistic isolation, called iddah, is part of Rama’s Islamic faith. She describes Modou’s funeral to Aissatou—the long line of mourners, her irritation that her co-wife, Modou’s second, was placed next to her as though they were equals, her exhaustion as the days pass and the funeral proceedings stretch onwards. On the fortieth day, Binetou, her co-wife, leaves to return to her parents’ home. Rama will spend four months and ten days in isolation from the world, unable to leave the tent that has been erected around her. She is unfazed by this, telling Aissatou that she “has enough memories in me to ruminate upon” (9).

Modou’s family arrives for a meeting to discuss financial affairs. Binetou and her mother (referred to as Lady Mother-in-Law) are there, as is Modou’s brother Tamsir, the local Imam (Islamic religious authority), and Modou’s best friend Mawdo. Rama reflects on Modou’s failings in life—he all but abandoned Rama for a younger wife and was in significant debt at the time of his death. He spent all his money on a spacious home for Binetou and her mother. Rama is grieved as family members begin to fight over what’s left of Modou’s estate, with Lady Mother-in-law being particularly demanding. Rama complains to her friend about how cruel Modou was to take a second wife after Rama bore him twelve children and was married to him for decades.