Ousmane Gueye, a Muslim Sengalese man, and Mireille, the daughter of a French diplomat, have fallen in love. Ousmane's difficult life is radically different from the privileged, aristocratic life of Mireille, but the difference only drives the couple more deeply in love. Star-crossed lovers with worlds between them, the two are separated when Mireille must leave Senegal.
When they were together, their parents hated their romance for the way it crossed social boundaries, and now that they are separated, the likelihood of their reunion seems unlikely. However, through passion and love, the two get married and start their lives together in Senegal.
Then Mireille learns a secret about Senegalese culture the hard way. She learns that in Senegal, it is completely acceptable to find a new wife every time your first wife starts boring you. Mireille is disturbed and heartbroken. How could Ousmane have preyed on her this way? And how does such a culture exist where men can simply abandon their wives and get away with it?
The story feels like a romance, but quickly, it turns to horror. Unable to cope with her new life in light of her treatment, and unable to return to the life she left behind, she does the only thing she can—she spares both herself and her young child from living in such a savage, unspeakably cruel place as Senegal. This is not the novelist's only brutal commentary against Senegal's toleration of polygamy.
