A fable about a widow’s way to find freedom when faced with outdated patriarcal norms…

Roukiata Ouedraogo’s new novel, which reads like a fable, takes place in a small African village, much like the one where she grew up. She tells the story of the very unlucky Moussa whose only field is trampled on by cattle and who then dies after being struck by lightning. Twice.

Saly, his widow and mother of two grown children, is a modern women faced with antiquated customs. Tradition obligates her to marry one of the brothers of her deceased husband. If she refuses, she will be banished. Her father-in-law gives her one month to decide. And what she decides will surprise everyone!

This novel is the story of this one month of Saly’s emancipation and her progression towards freedom.

Roukiata Ouedraogo is an actress and comic who was born in Burkina Faso in 1979. She moved to France in 2000 finding odd jobs to pay for her schooling until she was discovered on the streets of Paris and became a model. Roukiata is now a radio presenter on France Inter and performs in the theater. Her first novel Du miel sous les galettes was published by Slatkine & Cie in 2020.