Days come and go.
Life enrolls in a steady pace.
Across continents.
Across countries.
From Cameroon to France and back again.
From Cameroon to Nigeria and back again.

The writer Hemley Brown (Douala 1973), living in France with roots grown in Cameroon, tells a story about women in changing times and changing places. She tells us about Anna, a strong woman in a long line of strong women. The lifeline extends into a blurred past. She recounts her younger days when death is creeping near, when she spends time with her only daughter Abi who lives in France. Abi takes care of a young woman, called Jenny, who is not her own child. Anna has studied classical languages and went on to study at a Teacher Training College. In the end she became a French language teacher. She married Louis, who initially resisted the corrupt government but in the end he became part of the very same establishment. Their marriage turns into a struggle when Louis decides to live with his concubine, a student. Abi lives in Paris where she works as journalist at a cultural magazine. Her French husband, Julien Archard finds out about her infidelity with a sculpting artist and falls into the same trap of infidelity. The marriage breaks up and this causes deep resentment in the live of their only child Max, who changes from a model student to rebel student. His mother decides to send him to Douala to finish his secondary school. There he rejoins his old friends.

Then the story takes a very different turn. In comes Boko Haram. In the north of the country, near the border with Nigeria this violent gang is very present. In the neigbourhood of these youngsters an imam (with Kanuri roots) is recruiting young people, with a grudge and with an inclination to join the battle in the north. One of these youngster is Jenny, the daughter of Anna’s maid. Next is her friend Tina who leads a life of frivolity. Ishmael is another good friend in this group. The brother to Ishmael radicalizes and joins the imam in recruiting youngsters to go into battle in the north. And what about Max? The mission into the north and into Nigeria is has devastating effects.

The husbands in this story are mainly fleeting participants who live in obscurity. At times the dark curtain that hides them in near oblivion is raised to make a point about their instability, their longing for booze, their infidelity, their frailty.

Abi will take care of Jenny. Anna tells Abi in this situation: “Take a deep breath. Take it easy. Do not hurry. The days come and go.” Keep going. Keep living, no matter what comes on your path. Be strong woman in the line of strong women in our ancestry.

Hemley Boum
Les jours viennent et passent
Gallimard, Paris, France 2019

This book has been translated into English and German.