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Mema
Mema engages the reader with its dramatic tale of a woman struggling against the constraints of her community, yet proves to be a multi-layered novel exploring a culture in transition.
128 pages, Paperback
First published March 8, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
January 18, 2018
3.5 stars
This novella was a pleasant surprise. It’s told from the perspective of a boy who grew up in a traditional village society in Gabon, and the beginning didn’t seem to bode well due to some repetition and meandering. But it soon hits its stride, and once I realized that the style of storytelling, with a certain amount of repetition, was drawing on oral tradition, it became much more palatable.
This short book is perhaps reminiscent of someone telling stories around a fire in way the narrator moves from one subject to the next. He first builds a picture of his childhood world, recalling how the community traditionally solved problems like wives leaving their husbands (this involves large meetings between both villages, since a marriage between two people is the marriage of their families). Then he talks about his mother, a woman with a strong personality who has the misfortune of losing her husband and daughters and being accused of sorcery by her husband’s village, but refuses to give up. And then he moves on to his young life in the village and for a few years with his adult cousin in town. It isn’t strictly plot-driven and there are stories within the story, like the village legend dealing with children’s duties to their parents. But I found it to be well-told and engaging.
Interestingly, some reviewers seem to have understood this as a book about the tension between tradition and modernity. I saw it much more as an ode to the narrator’s mother and to traditional village life, with a brief foray to the city, though the end implies that the narrator will later rejoin the modern world. Nevertheless, one of its strongest passages is all about that tension between the two:
“The white man's world was like that. It made you think about things, not people. It made you forget about people. It made you want things. It made you want many things. And when you started to want many things, you had no time left for thinking about people, because you spent so much time trying to get those things you wanted. So you forgot about everyone. And you no longer cared about anyone else, and no one else cared about you. You were left alone to fend for yourself because everybody else was so busy fending for themselves too.”
This novella was a pleasant surprise. It’s told from the perspective of a boy who grew up in a traditional village society in Gabon, and the beginning didn’t seem to bode well due to some repetition and meandering. But it soon hits its stride, and once I realized that the style of storytelling, with a certain amount of repetition, was drawing on oral tradition, it became much more palatable.
This short book is perhaps reminiscent of someone telling stories around a fire in way the narrator moves from one subject to the next. He first builds a picture of his childhood world, recalling how the community traditionally solved problems like wives leaving their husbands (this involves large meetings between both villages, since a marriage between two people is the marriage of their families). Then he talks about his mother, a woman with a strong personality who has the misfortune of losing her husband and daughters and being accused of sorcery by her husband’s village, but refuses to give up. And then he moves on to his young life in the village and for a few years with his adult cousin in town. It isn’t strictly plot-driven and there are stories within the story, like the village legend dealing with children’s duties to their parents. But I found it to be well-told and engaging.
Interestingly, some reviewers seem to have understood this as a book about the tension between tradition and modernity. I saw it much more as an ode to the narrator’s mother and to traditional village life, with a brief foray to the city, though the end implies that the narrator will later rejoin the modern world. Nevertheless, one of its strongest passages is all about that tension between the two:
“The white man's world was like that. It made you think about things, not people. It made you forget about people. It made you want things. It made you want many things. And when you started to want many things, you had no time left for thinking about people, because you spent so much time trying to get those things you wanted. So you forgot about everyone. And you no longer cared about anyone else, and no one else cared about you. You were left alone to fend for yourself because everybody else was so busy fending for themselves too.”
March 25, 2024
Amarcord
“Yo recuerdo.
Yo recuerdo a Mema.
Madre. Mi madre.”
El narrador cuenta los recuerdos de su vida de su madre, una mujer inteligente, generosa y valiente. Y al hacerlo cuenta los modos y costumbres de su aldea, historias que le fueron contadas, desde las leyendas míticas hasta las experiencias con los fulassi (hombres blancos); y principalmente las peripecias de la vida de esta mujer, su madre, y de su vida con ella.
“La historia de mi madre es triste. Es una historia que no debería contarse. Debería ser no contada, que quede extraviada en el sagrado secreto de recuerdos largamente guardados, mantenidos sin profanar para toda la eternidad, bajo el manto piadoso de lo tabú, lo que no se habla.”
Aunque las historias de aldea no son mi estilo preferido dentro de la literatura africana, este es un libro muy bien escrito, con un lenguaje musical que atrapa y nos conduce a través de la historia de manera armoniosa y agradable. Una novela que seguramente tiene elementos autobiográficos, muy linda para leer y que deja un sabor dulce al terminar.
"Yo le prometí que aprendería, y que me convertiría en alguien en el mundo del hombre blanco" (pero) "El hombre blanco sabía como hacerte olvidar a tu gente y tu sabiduría. Este era el mundo al que estaba entrando ahora. Porque se lo prometí. Y (también) le prometí que no olvidaría. Debía recordar. Por ella. Y lo logré. Ella venció."
“Yo recuerdo.
Yo recuerdo a Mema.
Madre. Mi madre.”
Daniel Mengara nació en 1967 en Gabón, donde se crio y completó sus estudios universitarios, continuando sus estudios superiores en Francia y EEUU, donde actualmente es catedrático en la Universidad Estatal Monclair. Este es su primer libro de ficción.
“Yo recuerdo.
Yo recuerdo a Mema.
Madre. Mi madre.”
El narrador cuenta los recuerdos de su vida de su madre, una mujer inteligente, generosa y valiente. Y al hacerlo cuenta los modos y costumbres de su aldea, historias que le fueron contadas, desde las leyendas míticas hasta las experiencias con los fulassi (hombres blancos); y principalmente las peripecias de la vida de esta mujer, su madre, y de su vida con ella.
“La historia de mi madre es triste. Es una historia que no debería contarse. Debería ser no contada, que quede extraviada en el sagrado secreto de recuerdos largamente guardados, mantenidos sin profanar para toda la eternidad, bajo el manto piadoso de lo tabú, lo que no se habla.”
Aunque las historias de aldea no son mi estilo preferido dentro de la literatura africana, este es un libro muy bien escrito, con un lenguaje musical que atrapa y nos conduce a través de la historia de manera armoniosa y agradable. Una novela que seguramente tiene elementos autobiográficos, muy linda para leer y que deja un sabor dulce al terminar.
"Yo le prometí que aprendería, y que me convertiría en alguien en el mundo del hombre blanco" (pero) "El hombre blanco sabía como hacerte olvidar a tu gente y tu sabiduría. Este era el mundo al que estaba entrando ahora. Porque se lo prometí. Y (también) le prometí que no olvidaría. Debía recordar. Por ella. Y lo logré. Ella venció."
“Yo recuerdo.
Yo recuerdo a Mema.
Madre. Mi madre.”
Daniel Mengara nació en 1967 en Gabón, donde se crio y completó sus estudios universitarios, continuando sus estudios superiores en Francia y EEUU, donde actualmente es catedrático en la Universidad Estatal Monclair. Este es su primer libro de ficción.
July 31, 2019
I gave it a 4.5. I love it! It's short, but powerful.
February 14, 2023
Torn a bit between 3 and 4 but ultimately I don’t think this story will stick with me much.
It’s an easy-to-read novella that shines a light on a boy and his mom. I enjoyed parts of the story and it had some poignant moments. If you’re looking for a book for Gabon, I would recommend. It’s quick and paints a good story but as I mentioned it didn’t draw me in too deep.
It’s an easy-to-read novella that shines a light on a boy and his mom. I enjoyed parts of the story and it had some poignant moments. If you’re looking for a book for Gabon, I would recommend. It’s quick and paints a good story but as I mentioned it didn’t draw me in too deep.
March 14, 2014
"Song" hahaha! whenever I came across these words I know the machete is hungry for a slice.
The tale about Zame wa Mebegwe's sons( not sure if spelling is correct) is quite poignant and teaching at the same time.
The tale about Zame wa Mebegwe's sons( not sure if spelling is correct) is quite poignant and teaching at the same time.
February 2, 2025
Read around the world project - Gabon
September 10, 2019
The setting: I’m 10 years old in the village with my cousins. Its where we’re forcefully shipped off by our parents over the school holidays to get away from the city and keep us from mischief. They’ll never admit this though, they claim it’s because they want us to spend some time with our grandparents. But, we get to run around, help with picking coffee, climb trees and be wild with no parent supervision and so we don’t complain.
It’s night time and we’re all sitting by the fire trying to keep warm. Most times after we’ve had dinner, grandma will tell us tales of ogres, of the old days, of the cunning hare and the greedy hyena. Every lesson passed down in folk tale form. This is the setting this book transported me to.
As an ode to his mother, Mema, is the reflection of a boy growing up in a village in Gabon and his mother – strong, loud mouthed, brutal – and her unwillingness to bend to societal pressures. Mema is a woman of her own ilk. She refuses to be subjugated by the dictates of society on the position of women. In her household, she does not cower from making decisions and fighting with her husband in public to the villagers’ dismay. And it is because of this, her apparent barrenness and her inability to keep her mouth shut that she is disliked. She boldly attends the village’s Medza and speaks out, going against traditions and expectations. When tragedy befalls her family, she is ostracized but even this does not silence her.
Borrowing from oral tradition and filled with folklores and stories within stories to pass on messages and lessons as was traditional done in African societies, this 122 paged book is deceivingly small but it’s magic lies in its simplicity. I loved that it is an inward looking story and despite mention of colonisation and its effects in post-colonial African societies, this was not the focus of the book. Western influences were kept at a minimum. The literary devices were also very African. It’s been a while since I have read a book that I have felt was authentically African in themes, style, narrative and focus which was such a refreshing change.
Highly recommend.
It’s night time and we’re all sitting by the fire trying to keep warm. Most times after we’ve had dinner, grandma will tell us tales of ogres, of the old days, of the cunning hare and the greedy hyena. Every lesson passed down in folk tale form. This is the setting this book transported me to.
As an ode to his mother, Mema, is the reflection of a boy growing up in a village in Gabon and his mother – strong, loud mouthed, brutal – and her unwillingness to bend to societal pressures. Mema is a woman of her own ilk. She refuses to be subjugated by the dictates of society on the position of women. In her household, she does not cower from making decisions and fighting with her husband in public to the villagers’ dismay. And it is because of this, her apparent barrenness and her inability to keep her mouth shut that she is disliked. She boldly attends the village’s Medza and speaks out, going against traditions and expectations. When tragedy befalls her family, she is ostracized but even this does not silence her.
Borrowing from oral tradition and filled with folklores and stories within stories to pass on messages and lessons as was traditional done in African societies, this 122 paged book is deceivingly small but it’s magic lies in its simplicity. I loved that it is an inward looking story and despite mention of colonisation and its effects in post-colonial African societies, this was not the focus of the book. Western influences were kept at a minimum. The literary devices were also very African. It’s been a while since I have read a book that I have felt was authentically African in themes, style, narrative and focus which was such a refreshing change.
Highly recommend.
May 8, 2021
This was my read the world selection for Gabon.
Mema is known in her village as having a big mouth. She never stops talking and has a very sharp tongue. She is feared and disliked in her village. She is also considered to be barren, however when she does eventually have four children, her husband dies at the hands of a witchdoctor that Mema takes him to as a last resort - taking their two daughters with him.
Left with only her two sons, Mema must fight for her son’s and her family’s rights against a society that want to enforce their old traditional ways on her.
This was a great little book (only 122 pages) and was full of village life and customs as well as African folklore, witchcraft and the examination of a woman’s role in a changing society.
The author is a great storyteller and if you are interested in stories including witchcraft, folklore and old traditions I think you would really enjoy this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mema is known in her village as having a big mouth. She never stops talking and has a very sharp tongue. She is feared and disliked in her village. She is also considered to be barren, however when she does eventually have four children, her husband dies at the hands of a witchdoctor that Mema takes him to as a last resort - taking their two daughters with him.
Left with only her two sons, Mema must fight for her son’s and her family’s rights against a society that want to enforce their old traditional ways on her.
This was a great little book (only 122 pages) and was full of village life and customs as well as African folklore, witchcraft and the examination of a woman’s role in a changing society.
The author is a great storyteller and if you are interested in stories including witchcraft, folklore and old traditions I think you would really enjoy this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
February 8, 2022
Mema tells the tale of a headstrong woman who goes to great lengths to protect her family while defiling tradition. This debut novel from Gabonese author Daniel Mengara portrays the customs and traditions of a society while retaining the empathy needed to understand the rebellion of this headstrong woman.
June 13, 2025
i just could not connect with how this was written. it was far too off topic and winding. the repetition once i finally got back into the story about mema was soul crushing after the weird tangents (which i acknowledge were meant to parallel the village elders telling stories for the youth to find meaning in).
July 15, 2020
My next read was from Gabon, Central Africa, from where where Daniel Mengare brings us a powerful tale, oft repeated in post-colonial Africa. A tale that speaks of the role and position accorded to women, and the ostracism that results when the status quo is challenged; further a tale that advises of the benefits that can be derived from a Western education, with the cautionary note that this should not replace indigenous knowledge, and the wisdom of the Elders.
March 7, 2021
all African women are like mema
June 14, 2021
A sweet memory of growing up in rural Gabon, with a mama ready to fight. Lovely details, limited story.
January 28, 2011
There really are no words...
Professor Mengara is the most polite person you ever want to meet. I went to one of his lectures
about his book and African Literature. I took plenty of notes about the use of poetry and other vices
that African author use to keep the reader alert or awake, so they don't get bored. I even employed these vices in my novel, "Life Knows No Bounds: One Who Loves You More" which is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and a few others not yet published.
About the book:
It is about a fierce African mother who doesn't take crap from anyone. When the decendents of the colonizers are pushing at the Africans to move in a more westernized direction, Mema refuses to give up her African culture. Mema actually refuses to conform to anything, even people telling her how to take care of her family, including her husband. Where most mothers walk carrying a child, a bag of goodies or a cloth to wipe their kids mouth, Mema carries a machete and the way Daniel Mengara describes her you can see the look in her eyes and know she will cut you.
Her son is a beautiful soul, who like most in Africa go through the drama, and he loves his mother. He like everyone else fears her but he seems, in my opinion, to have an understanding of her that was in the making while in childhood. He watches her like a hawk and quotes her every move and is poetic sometimes when he speaks of her.
I loved the novel, and I believe it will be one of the greats. I have no complaints about the novel at all, however, I would've loved for it to be longer. There seemed to be so much more to this story. It is a must read and I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't read it, as there is so much to get from the story.
Professor Mengara is the most polite person you ever want to meet. I went to one of his lectures
about his book and African Literature. I took plenty of notes about the use of poetry and other vices
that African author use to keep the reader alert or awake, so they don't get bored. I even employed these vices in my novel, "Life Knows No Bounds: One Who Loves You More" which is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and a few others not yet published.
About the book:
It is about a fierce African mother who doesn't take crap from anyone. When the decendents of the colonizers are pushing at the Africans to move in a more westernized direction, Mema refuses to give up her African culture. Mema actually refuses to conform to anything, even people telling her how to take care of her family, including her husband. Where most mothers walk carrying a child, a bag of goodies or a cloth to wipe their kids mouth, Mema carries a machete and the way Daniel Mengara describes her you can see the look in her eyes and know she will cut you.
Her son is a beautiful soul, who like most in Africa go through the drama, and he loves his mother. He like everyone else fears her but he seems, in my opinion, to have an understanding of her that was in the making while in childhood. He watches her like a hawk and quotes her every move and is poetic sometimes when he speaks of her.
I loved the novel, and I believe it will be one of the greats. I have no complaints about the novel at all, however, I would've loved for it to be longer. There seemed to be so much more to this story. It is a must read and I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't read it, as there is so much to get from the story.
December 28, 2011
Mema is a tribute to motherhood - the word means "My mother" and Daniel Mengara has written this little book in memory of his loud-mouthed, unlucky, strong, sometimes brutal, clever mother. In simple language African villagelife is juxtaposed to the lifestyle in the cities, old traditions in which the elders are respected for their wisdom and experience to modern technology which is reserved for the young who gain respect for having mastered the knowledge of the white man. African oral tradition comes alive in the sagas told by the elders to impart wisdom to the next generations. Thus, this is also a testimony of African literary style different from our ours.
Very interesting read, beautiful in its simplicity.
Very interesting read, beautiful in its simplicity.
April 12, 2013
And now a Gabonese take on colonialism. But, the same sad story. Of loss. Of destruction. Of confusion. Of the material consuming the spiritual.
Favorite passage (p. 96): "The white man's world was like that. It made you think about things, not people. It made you forget about people. It made you want things. It made you want many things. And when you started to want many things, you had no time left for thinking about people, because you spent so much time trying to get those things you wanted. So you forgot about everyone. And you no longer cared about anyone else, and no one else cared about you. You were left alone to fend for yourself because everybody else was so busy fending for themselves too."
Progress? Civilization?
Favorite passage (p. 96): "The white man's world was like that. It made you think about things, not people. It made you forget about people. It made you want things. It made you want many things. And when you started to want many things, you had no time left for thinking about people, because you spent so much time trying to get those things you wanted. So you forgot about everyone. And you no longer cared about anyone else, and no one else cared about you. You were left alone to fend for yourself because everybody else was so busy fending for themselves too."
Progress? Civilization?
January 21, 2019
My quest to read something from every country leads me to some odd reads and some delightful ones. This was definitely a hit for me. It is an intense and poetic novel that conjures up the Gabonese village life that the author knew as a child. He uses language and metaphor that emphasise the distinctive flavour of that life, often using imagery of lions and snakes. The mother character (mema) is a tremendous figure, strong and tragic.
July 22, 2016
Mema is a story that depicts the reality of life in an indigenous community, the belief in witchcraft, the sufferings in marriage in the hands of in-laws especially at the death of a husband.
It is a story about a mother’s sorrows, her resilience, and her strength. I really enjoyed reading this book.
It is a story about a mother’s sorrows, her resilience, and her strength. I really enjoyed reading this book.
December 14, 2012
Mema is brilliant!
She defends her values and what she wants for her family and children and in reading this book you can't help but ask how much women go through in raising their children and sustaining their families.
She defends her values and what she wants for her family and children and in reading this book you can't help but ask how much women go through in raising their children and sustaining their families.
February 7, 2018
Et velskrevet og interessant, skønlitterært indblik i aspekter af kulturen i et traditionelt landsbysamfund i Gabon.
Læs hele anmeldelsen på K’s bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/02/07/daniel-...
Læs hele anmeldelsen på K’s bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/02/07/daniel-...
February 14, 2019
Engaging read for my AtW challenge (Gabon). Although the narrator is a child, the real main character is his headstrong mother - making this novel more than a coming-of-age story. I also liked the integration of a folktale.
January 4, 2014
I enjoyed this, and it was especially interesting as we are living here in Gabon. I wanted it to be longer and have more to it, but am glad I read it.
March 21, 2016
Beautiful story about a boy and his mother, but intertwined with the history of colonization and the changing face of rural life in parts of Africa.
September 25, 2021
We have read so many narratives on motherhood and mothering in the African societies by a lot female writers. It’s was so refreshing to read a man’s perspective on motherhood. Daniel Mengara weaves together a very beautiful narrative that will lull your senses.
Mema is an authentically themed African novel filled with folklore. A tribute to motherhood.
As an ode to his mother, Elang Sima the narrator tells of his mothers resilience, her strength and her struggles. Through his recollection and reflections we experience his childhood growing up in a village in Gabon and how things changed.
In the beginning of the story the narrator gives us a background to his village, his people and how things are done. He then veers off to talk about how his mother is disliked because of her sharp tongue, bravery, eloquence and apparent bareness.
“She would accompany her husband to every gathering and miss no opportunity to open her mouth. Even in the mud- walled church that the white Man had come to build in our village... my mother would impose her presence. For instance when she found the preaching boring or not accurate according to what she knew of the Bible she would interrupt and take over the sermon”.
Mema refuses to succumb to societies expectations of women. she speaks against traditions and sermons that seeks to subjugate women. She attends the village ‘medzo’ and speaks out interspersing her speeches with wise saying and proverbs.
After the death of her husband and two daughters, she is ostracized but even that does not silence her. She fights for her sons.
This book is a representation of the everyday African women. Mengara borrows from Oral traditions of storytelling and touches on feminism, marriage, superstition, male chauvinism, love and colonialism. I love how he focused on conflicts within the African society. This book is poetic and simple. A MUST READ!
Mema is an authentically themed African novel filled with folklore. A tribute to motherhood.
As an ode to his mother, Elang Sima the narrator tells of his mothers resilience, her strength and her struggles. Through his recollection and reflections we experience his childhood growing up in a village in Gabon and how things changed.
In the beginning of the story the narrator gives us a background to his village, his people and how things are done. He then veers off to talk about how his mother is disliked because of her sharp tongue, bravery, eloquence and apparent bareness.
“She would accompany her husband to every gathering and miss no opportunity to open her mouth. Even in the mud- walled church that the white Man had come to build in our village... my mother would impose her presence. For instance when she found the preaching boring or not accurate according to what she knew of the Bible she would interrupt and take over the sermon”.
Mema refuses to succumb to societies expectations of women. she speaks against traditions and sermons that seeks to subjugate women. She attends the village ‘medzo’ and speaks out interspersing her speeches with wise saying and proverbs.
After the death of her husband and two daughters, she is ostracized but even that does not silence her. She fights for her sons.
This book is a representation of the everyday African women. Mengara borrows from Oral traditions of storytelling and touches on feminism, marriage, superstition, male chauvinism, love and colonialism. I love how he focused on conflicts within the African society. This book is poetic and simple. A MUST READ!
January 1, 2023
Good details of the village in Gabon where the story is set, near the forest, and some of the traditional beliefs from there including the following:
-medzo, gatherings to decide / adjudicate a dispute, often marital ones and could be involving different sides each from different villages;
-the mimbiri traditional doctor;
-the berem (opposite of innocent spirits); and
-the origin story and influences of traditional folk tales and parables through that of Osuga Zame.
Great description here:
"The village of the humans was a normal village, just like any human village. It had an aba, thatch-roofed huts from which rose the spoke from early morning fires. It had, standing behind its huts, banana, sia, papaya and avocado trees whose branches loomed like long arms over the roofs. It had poultry running wild in pursuit of flying insects, pigs and sheep running away from barking dogs. It had its own gendarme birds exercising their voices to the tune of the new day, and building nests in the branches of the plantain trees. A cold misty morning fog was covering anything. Its dewy fingers appeared to be loosening their invisible grip on the neck of the village, vanishing gradually and receding into the dark depths of the surrounding forest."
Also the last part where he goes to the city and the 'white person' school and the contrast is really interesting. As well as the difficulties of life living for and working for (not with) a white person as a black child from the village - including being providing for very little (having to collect empty bottles to sell to try to get extra food) and harsh beatings as 'punishment' for nothing wrong but really when the white man just feels threatened (I stick with my dad's view that abuse of power is one of the most evil acts a human can do).
-medzo, gatherings to decide / adjudicate a dispute, often marital ones and could be involving different sides each from different villages;
-the mimbiri traditional doctor;
-the berem (opposite of innocent spirits); and
-the origin story and influences of traditional folk tales and parables through that of Osuga Zame.
Great description here:
"The village of the humans was a normal village, just like any human village. It had an aba, thatch-roofed huts from which rose the spoke from early morning fires. It had, standing behind its huts, banana, sia, papaya and avocado trees whose branches loomed like long arms over the roofs. It had poultry running wild in pursuit of flying insects, pigs and sheep running away from barking dogs. It had its own gendarme birds exercising their voices to the tune of the new day, and building nests in the branches of the plantain trees. A cold misty morning fog was covering anything. Its dewy fingers appeared to be loosening their invisible grip on the neck of the village, vanishing gradually and receding into the dark depths of the surrounding forest."
Also the last part where he goes to the city and the 'white person' school and the contrast is really interesting. As well as the difficulties of life living for and working for (not with) a white person as a black child from the village - including being providing for very little (having to collect empty bottles to sell to try to get extra food) and harsh beatings as 'punishment' for nothing wrong but really when the white man just feels threatened (I stick with my dad's view that abuse of power is one of the most evil acts a human can do).
July 13, 2025
It is unsurprising that many novels written by west African authors draw on the regions rich traditions of oral story telling. The potential trouble with this is that, when committed to paper, the oral style can come across as a little trite. Devested of the orators delivery what is left can be almost simplistic. Various authors remedy this with varying degrees of success with different methods - melding this very African form of story-telling to what is essentially a western construct. Mengara is incredibly successful with this blend. The novel both retains the distinctive voice of the narrator as if being delivered orally, but still has the meat of a literary novel. Whilst the tale is told more or less chronologically, there are various asides where Mengara, digresses into various facets of Gabonese life. But he never preaches. The novel touches on themes of modernity vs tradition and occident vs orient, but does so merely by shining a light on the life as poor Gabonese villagers experience it, at no point does it get as blatant as denouncing one aspect, or ever showing either side of the disparity to be wrong or right - this is merely how it is and we can make of it what we will.
The only criticism I can really level at the novel is that it ends rather abruptly. But then I wonder if this is a deliberate device, so that we can reflect ourselves on what the novel was saying, rather than have it tied up neatly for us, as we are told that children should do when told a story by their elders.
This review is taken from a post from my world literature blog: https://theworldisabookblog.blogspot....
The only criticism I can really level at the novel is that it ends rather abruptly. But then I wonder if this is a deliberate device, so that we can reflect ourselves on what the novel was saying, rather than have it tied up neatly for us, as we are told that children should do when told a story by their elders.
This review is taken from a post from my world literature blog: https://theworldisabookblog.blogspot....
January 31, 2020
This short novella is a fictional story about a mother and her family in Gabon. It is told from the perspective of her second son as he grows up watching his mother struggle with her husband's family and village. When her husband dies, the village does everything they can to cast her out, and she fears for her children. She sends her second son to live in the big city in Gabon with her husband's brother. There he is able to attend a very good school and for 5 years he doesn't see his mother. Once he sees her again after so long, he almost doesn't recognize her. His mother decides he cannot leave her again and tries to figure out a way to keep him and also allow him to continue his studies.
This is a very short, but pretty decent book. I finished it in an afternoon. It is well written and the story flows well. It has a nice wrap up of an ending, which I know can be tough with a short book. You become invested in the story and the characters and I was anxious to finish it to see how it would end.
This is a very short, but pretty decent book. I finished it in an afternoon. It is well written and the story flows well. It has a nice wrap up of an ending, which I know can be tough with a short book. You become invested in the story and the characters and I was anxious to finish it to see how it would end.
June 23, 2025
This novella feels like an accessible entry into Central African literature & storytelling-- an updated or remixed version of oral tradition made more streamlined for a written story.
While in retrospect the disparate aspects of the story make sense together, the reading experience was a bit disjointed: having separate sections of village politics & marriage setups, a family tragedy, a fable, and a bildungsroman all together made it hard to stick with it initially.
I do wish we got more time with Mema -- this fierce & insane (complimentary) woman who was unconcerned with village politics & expectations, but had to relinquish what she wanted in the hope of giving her sons a better future. She is the heart of the story, and the story is harder without her.
Ultimately, I do feel like this story portrays the struggle women have, of wanting the best for themselves & their families, but continually being held or pulled back by community and tradition.
Global Reading Project: Gabon. 7/200
While in retrospect the disparate aspects of the story make sense together, the reading experience was a bit disjointed: having separate sections of village politics & marriage setups, a family tragedy, a fable, and a bildungsroman all together made it hard to stick with it initially.
I do wish we got more time with Mema -- this fierce & insane (complimentary) woman who was unconcerned with village politics & expectations, but had to relinquish what she wanted in the hope of giving her sons a better future. She is the heart of the story, and the story is harder without her.
Ultimately, I do feel like this story portrays the struggle women have, of wanting the best for themselves & their families, but continually being held or pulled back by community and tradition.
Global Reading Project: Gabon. 7/200
July 21, 2023
A book about a strong woman, a mother. A book about abuse, emotional and physical. A book about a life between believes of witchcraft and French colonial schooling. A book told through interwoven stories reminiscent of oral tradition.
They entered my mother's hut.
My mother remained silent.
They sat down.
My mother remained silent.
They spoke.
My mother listened.
They said they had come to get the children.
My mother asked them to say it again.
They said it again.
My mother showed them the machete.
They entered my mother's hut.
My mother remained silent.
They sat down.
My mother remained silent.
They spoke.
My mother listened.
They said they had come to get the children.
My mother asked them to say it again.
They said it again.
My mother showed them the machete.
July 24, 2019
This is a short novel I read for my around the world tour and, specifically, my “read the equator” goal for the year. From a cultural perspective the book was a 4 plus stars as it took me deep into the familial and cultural forces in Gabonese society. This is why I am reading the world. From a pure novel/story perspective there wasn’t much there though. Much more could have been done with the plot.
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