Book Reviews
Reiew of These Letters End In Tears
Nov
Musih Tedji’s debut “These Letters End In Tears” was an emotional, heart-gutting read that left me completely shattered and in tears afterwards.
Focused on the life of Bessem, a young Economics professor who found love in college and lost it just as abruptly as it began, this author uses a rare epistolary style to describe the sufferings of the LGBTQ community in Cameroon. When Bessem met Fatima for the first time, she knew she had found the one who would make the noise in her head quiet.
The chemistry is instant and consuming when this duo finds themselves again by chance. From opposite sides of the world- Fati, a young Muslim woman living as a butch lesbian in university, careful yet embracing her truth and living unapologetically despite the obvious gossip and humiliation from her family and community back home, and Bessem an only child from a relatively comfortable Christian home who have lived in the shadows all her life until she found love in the arms of a woman, they married, cohabited and loved even with repressive and bigoted laws that criminalises same-sex relationships in Cameroon.
To live and love openly for people like Bessem and Fati is to court trouble. From police raids in clubs that allow people of the LGBTQ community to exist without judgement, scorn or violence, to abandonment and abuse by members of their families. Despite their carefulness, Bessem is soon discovered by Fati’s religious fanatic brother who ensures she is arrested alongside Fati, tortured and separated from the love of her life. She spends the better part of this story seeking her lover, writing letters to relieve her pains, living in the past and trying to move on but failing woefully at it.
Not sparing feelings and with utterly blunt honesty, this author tells a story that will forever remain with me. “These Letters Ends In Tears” offers thought-provoking insights into the complexities of life and sexuality. Occasionally shifting from Bessem’s story, this author through her eyes gave tiny glimpses of the lives of people who identify as homosexuals and the last resort taken by people of the LGBTQ community- some accepting and making do with the phobia by marrying and settling down with unsuspecting men or women, uprooting their lives and leaving the country to live freely abroad or simply living in shadows. All of these, very hard decisions.
The story is interwoven and shared into different timelines of Bessem’s life. Before she meets Fati, Bessem is content to simply exist in the emptiness she feels, wearing a mask that fits the ideal daughter that her mother desires. With Fati, she is alive, happy and full of the love from their relationship. This author captures the unpleasant afterwards, basking in the harsh realities of homophobia, heartache and violence. Their separation is heralded by a police raid in what can be stylishly called a gay bar, she meets her best friend after a raid that leads to the death of three gay men and is later confronted with the sad truth of Fati’s disappearance. Using flashbacks- in epistolary style, symbolism and irony, this author creates an unforgettable experience for the reader.
“These Letters Ends In Tears” was written so carefully to transport the audience and challenge whatever bias is held against people in this spectrum. This book, which has engaging characters that are completely relatable to the average African, is the kind that you can’t stop reading until you arrive at the very end, but it is also one that you’d need to take a break from to catch your breath. Although not your typical African Romance, Fati and Bessem’s love story is beautiful, rare and timeless. I loved this book and the characters, but most especially, I liked that stories like this are told without varnish and in all honesty. For a debut, Musih Tedji has done marvellously well, and has carved a name for herself as an African author to look out for .
About The Writer: Nneka is an avid reader with a knack for ranting about books she has read.
She is also a beta reader and developmental editor who is passionate about helping writers write the stories of their dreams. When She is not doing book things, you’d catch her injecting her soul with every track by Dwin The Stoic.
