So Long a Letter is a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel originally written in French by the Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. So Long a Letter (French: Une si longue lettre) is a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel originally written in French by the Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. So Long a Letter deals with multiple themes, which include the life of women in Senegal during the 1970s, family and community life, Islam and polygamy, and death rituals.