Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

A large cast of characters plays out a complex interweaving of narrative and thematic lines in this fact-based novel. As oppressed male black railroad workers in French colonial Africa struggle to improve their economic and social status, their women (who, in many ways, are just as oppressed by tribal and ethnic traditions) struggle to improve their own status, within both their communities and their families. This pursuit of simultaneous personal and communal integrity is the novel's anchoring thematic concern, manifesting in both character transformation and plot.

"Bamako - Ad'jibid'ji " The elderly Niakoro contemplates the impending train-worker's strike, recalling how a previous strike had resulted in the deaths of her husband and one of her sons, as well as the ongoing absence of another son, the revered union leader Bakayoko. During a conversation with Bakayoko's step-daughter, Ad'jibid'ji, Niakoro becomes furious when the...