<p>Ramatoulaye mwanamke Msenegali ameolewa na Mody mtu mzito serikalini. Baada ya miaka mingi ya ndoa Modu anaoa mke mwingine msichana mdogo mwenye umri sawa na wa binti yake. Ramatolaye anasahauliwa; pesa na mapenzi vinahamia kwa mke mdogo. Modu anakufa katika ajali ya gari. Nani atakayerithi mali za marehemu? Halafu kuna umati uliokuja kwenye kilio ambao &ldquo;lazima ulishwe na upewe pesa kwa heshima ya marehemu&rdquo;. Mariana Ba mwandishi wa riwaya hii alikuwa wa kwanza kupewa tuzo ya Noma mwaka 1980. Riwaya hii imetafsiriwa katika lugha kumi na nane na umaarufu wake unazidi kukua.</p><p>Originally published in French as <em>Une si longue lettre</em> this book written by the great Senegalese writer Mariama Ba is the Swahili translation from the English by the late Professor Maganga. <em>Une si longue letter</em> is a classic of the African canon it won the first <strong>Noma Award for Publishing in Africa</strong> in 1980 and has been translated into 17 other languages.</p>