Segu / Maryse Condé ; translated from the French by Barbara Bray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Condé, Maryse, author.

Contributor:

Bray, Barbara, translator.

Joanna Banks Collection of African American Books (University of Pennsylvania)

Standardized Title:

Ségou. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Ségou (Mali : Region)--History--Fiction.

Ségou (Mali : Region).

Mali--Ségou (Region).

Historical fiction.

Mali--History--Fiction.

Local Subjects:

Historical fiction.

Mali--History--Fiction.

Genre:

Novels.

History.

Historical fiction.

Fiction.

Penn Provenance:

Banks, Joanna (donor) (Banks Collection copy)

Physical Description:

14 unnumbered pages, 493 pages, 5 unnumbered pages : maps, genealogical table ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Ballantine Books edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Ballantine Books, [1988]

Summary:

The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade. 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. There is Tiekoro, who renounces his people's religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian. Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce.

Contents:

pt. I. The word that descends by night

pt. II. The wind scatters the grains of millet

pt. III. A fruitless death

pt. IV. The fertile blood

pt. V. And the gods trembled.

Notes:

Originally published in French as "Segou" by Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, 1984.

"First Ballantine Books Edition: May 1988."

"Cover design by James R. Harris. Cover painting by Donna Diamond."

"Designed by Ann Gold."

"Maps and Family Tree by Paul Pugliese."

Local Notes:

Kislak Center Banks Collection copy preented to the Penn Libraries in 2018 by Joanna Banks.

Banks Collection copy has name and address of Cap. Hill Theatre, 507 8th SE" written in ms.

Other Format:

Online version: Condé, Maryse. Ségou. English. Segu.

ISBN:

0345353064 :

9780345353061

OCLC:

17927921