Maryse Condé
Segu
Another book selected by my work book club, this for Africa Day, which is great in introducing me to authors I've not heard of. It's a bit of an epic over time and family which is the kind of novel that I like and this lives up to that range. The stories of the main family over the generations and geographies are engaging and interesting especially with the wide subject matters of slavery and religion integrated with narrower matters around family relationships, support and betrayal. A fascinating read. However, one thread which I didn't like was the underlying attitude to women which whilst I understand that the story probably fairly well represents it's setting there are a couple of times where pre-teenage girls who are raped fall in love with their violent rapist. This is a common representation of rape which is truly awful. If it was written by a man I would have wondered as to their attitude but it was written by a woman and I guess I don't have her experience and view of the world. I note this was written back in the 1980s.
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