Segu
First edition
AuthorMaryse Condé
Original titleSégou: les murailles de terre
TranslatorBarbara Bray
LanguageFrench
PublisherÉditions Robert Laffont
Publication date
1 May 1984
Published in English
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages
  • 492 pp. (Robert Laffont)
  • 480 pp. (Viking Press)
Preceded byA Season in Rihata 
Followed byThe Children of Segu 

Segu: A Novel (French: Ségou: les murailles de terre, lit. Segu: The Earthern Wall) is a French novel by Maryse Condé published in May 1984. Set in historical Ségou (now part of Mali), the book examines the violent impact of the slave trade, Islam, Christianity, and white colonization on a royal family during the period from 1797 to 1860.[1] The African saga and its sequel, The Children of Segu has been positively reviewed.[2][3] The book won the Liberatur Prize in 1988.

Synopsis

Set in 1797, Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore the king's most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. The eldest of Traore's sons, Tiekoro, renounces his people's religion and embraces Islam; Siga defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian.

Reviews

The New York Times regarded the novel as "the most significant novel about black Africa published in many a year."[4]

American writer Paule Marshall praised the novel, saying: "With the dazzling storytelling skills of an African griot, Condé has written a rich, fast-paced saga of a great kingdom during the tumultuous period of the slave trade and the coming of Islam. Segu is history as vivid and immediate as today. It has restored a part of my past that has long been missing."[5] Novelist Louise Meriwether commented: "Segu is an overwhelming accomplishment. It injects into the density of history characters who are as alive as you and I. Passionate, lusty, greedy, they are in conflict with themselves as well as with God and Mammon. Condé has done us all a tremendous service by rendering a history so compelling and exciting. Segu is a literary masterpiece I could not put down."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Condé, Maryse (1984). Ségou: les murailles de terre. Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont. p. 492. ISBN 9782221011973.
  2. ↑ Condé, Maryse, and Richard Philcox. Tales from the Heart: True Stories from My Childhood. New York: Soho, 2001.
  3. ↑ Malcolm Forbes (10 April 2017). "Book review: Segu tells tale of an epic journey through pre-colonial Africa". thenationalnews.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Summer Reading; Converts and Concubines". New York Times. 31 May 1987. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Segu: A Novel – Praises and Reviews". amazon.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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