The Impatient, Djaili Amadou Amal
The Impatient, Djaili Amadou Amal
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The Impatient
A Novel

Author: Djaili Amadou Amal

Narrator: Liz Femi

Unabridged: 4 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 10/11/2022


Synopsis

A powerful, heartrending, and insightful novel of a trio of women in Cameroon who dare to rebel against oppressive, long-held cultural traditions—including polygamy and domestic abuse—that define and limit their lives.Three women, three stories, three linked destinies . . .In North Cameroon, well-to-do young Ramla is torn from her true love and wed to a manipulative older man. Safira, her co-wife, juggles envy and empathy for this new bride with disappointment in the husband she desperately loves. Like her older sister, Ramla, Hindou is married off to a man she does not know or want, a distant cousin whose instability and violence terrifies her.From an early age, these women were raised to submit to men, or risk shame and repudiation of themselves and their families. They are advised to have munyal—patience. They are told that their fates are the will of the All-Powerful, and that it is unthinkable—or rather, impossible—to defy tradition. They are reminded of the Fulani proverb which holds, “At the end of patience, there is the sky.”Yet Ramla, Safira, and Hindou are tired of waiting for a happiness that may never come. Their lives are driven by impatience and clouded by the suffering rooted in forced marriage and physical abuse, but it is this oppressive culture that binds them together. In a society that demands female obedience, how will these three impatient women free themselves?Djaïli Amadou Amal makes her literary debut in English with this remarkable novel that breaks taboos as it denounces the cultural mores of Africa's Sahel region. Inspired by the author’s own experiences and written with grace, strength, and veracity, The Impatient is a moving testimony to a shared pain and a call for change—an unflinching depiction of the psychic damage traditions can have on the women who must abide by them and a denunciation of violence against all women and the normalization of domestic abuse—not only in Cameroon but around the globe.Translated from the French by Emma Ramadan

About Djaili Amadou Amal

Djaïli Amadou Amal was born in 1975 in Diamaré in the far north region of Cameroon and grew up in the capital city of Maroua. A Fulani author and activist fighting for women’s rights, she founded and runs Femmes du Sahel, an organization dedicated to promoting the education and development of women in her region. She is the author of three previous books written in French, and the French edition of The Impatients was shortlisted for the 2020 Prix Goncourt and won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. Amal lives in France.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Loredana on January 14, 2025

Nu știu ce să zic, este o carte mică, dar foarte puternică! Conține scene brutale de abuz domestic, așa că dacă sunteți sensibili la așa ceva, să aveți în vedere. În rest, mi-a plăcut cum este onestă în a descrie viața femeilor din Camerun (cel puțin cele care aparțin de, și se mărită în familii foa......more

Goodreads review by Emily on March 27, 2023

A harrowing novel that tackles the issue of forged marriage and polygamy in Cameroon. Through the eyes of three women, united in sorrow, abuse, and lack of agency, we see the terrible weight of these practices, and the dreams, comfort, lives, that they extinguish. This is an urgent novella rooted in......more

Goodreads review by Sonia on September 24, 2020

Voilà une pépite de cette rentrée littéraire. Ce roman a reçu le prix Orange du livre en Afrique en 2019, et cette année, il fait partie de la première sélection pour le Goncourt 2020. Le lecteur se retrouve propulsé au Cameroun, découvrant le destin de trois femmes : Ramla, 17 ans tout juste, souhait......more

Goodreads review by Ildiko on March 02, 2025

Avem trei perspective aici: 1. Ramla are 17 ani și este pe cale să se căsătorească. Din fericire, părinții sunt de acord cu alegerea făcută de ea, iar fata se simte îndrăgostită, făcându-și deja planuri de viitor. În ultimul moment însă, unchiul ei îi alege un alt soț, pe Alhadji, care are 50 de ani,......more

Goodreads review by Ligia on April 18, 2025

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐⭐ ~ • fiction, literary • dark, emotional, reflective, medium-paced ~ TW: domestic abuse, rape, sexual violence, miscarriage, mental illness, alcoholism, suicidal thoughts, eating disorder etc. ~ În "Femei fără răbdare" întâlnim povestea a trei femei diferite pe care le leagă trăirile simil......more