"Une Si Longue Lettre" is a major work because of what it reveals about the condition of women. At the heart of this novel is the letter that one of them, Ramatoulaye, writes to her best friend during the traditional period of seclusion that follows her widowhood. In it, she recalls their happy memories as students eager to change the world, and the hope sparked by the independence movements. But she also recalls forced marriages and the lack of women’s rights. And as her in-laws quickly move in to take over the deceased’s affairs, Ramatoulaye painfully recalls the day her husband took a second, younger wife, ruining twenty-five years of shared life and love.