Yasmina grew up in Burkina Faso and made her way to Paris where she has become a successful actress. Such an accomplishment would never have been possible if it weren’t for her mother. Which is why Yasmina decides to tell the story that defined her family and made her mother a hero.

Yasmina’s father was a respected civil servant who was falsely accused of stealing money one night from work. The only evidence against him was that there were no signs of a forced entry and he had a key. He is swiftly imprisoned and awaits a trial that never comes.

Meanwhile, Yasmina’s mother needs to earn money for the family to survive and so she starts selling crepes in front of their home. But she also needs to find a way to get her husband out of jail. She talks to whoever will listen, trying in vain to enlist the help of various lawyers, judges and politicians.

One failed attempt after another gets her nowhere; she constantly runs into the brick wall of bureaucracy and a failed judicial system that keeps an innocent man in prison. But she remains committed until she finally succeeds in getting her husband freed.

Based on a true story, this is the tale of how one woman’s determination and strength saved her husband and children. This is the story of how one woman fought the system and actually won.

Roukiata Ouedraogo was born in Burkina Faso in 1979. She grew up in Fada N’Gourma and then in the suburbs of Ouagadougou. She moved to France in 2000 finding odd jobs to pay for her schooling. After being discovered on the streets of Paris, she became a model and then, after theater training, an actress and comedian. This is her first novel, inspired by her family’s true story.