Benin - Snares Without End

Book #18: Snares Without End - Olympe Bhêly-Quenum

"A novel, also a philosophical tale in which destiny entraps the innocent protagonist and holds him fast. A man's life is ruined when he is unjustly accused of adultery."

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There aren't many reviews of this book out there, but the few that exist tend to agree - this is really two books, one that should have been published, and one that maybe shouldn't have been. The first half of the book is great. It's an engaging look at rural life in post-colonial Benin. Life isn't particularly easy for Ahouna Bakari and his family, they repeatedly encounter hardships - from locust plagues to forced labor - but they persevere and even thrive. Then Ahouna meets Anatou, a woman from a nearby farm. And at first, everything is great. Their families get along. They have children. Their farms have successful harvests. And then the second half of the book happens, and everything goes completely off the rails. Anatou accuses Ahouna of adultery. She has no reason to do this - I mean, her character has no reason. There is no explanation given, either for why she would suspect him or for why she may have lost her grip on reality. And Ahouna's life goes into a ridiculous downward spiral that also makes no sense, given the character's previous development. 

The first half of the book is really interesting and I learned a lot about Benin. The second half was frustrating and frankly made me angry because both Ahouna and Anatou were ruined.