Having the perspective from a women, I feel the book becomes more empowered as I and other women are reading it. It creates a sense of women empowerment that I really like to see in books because it can then create the same feeling to other women who might read it. Which could also help them create their own power for themselves. Ramatoulaye was voicing her struggles about her husband and dealing with his death through writing to Aissatou. Within her letters, it also shows how her culture views marriage, ultimately disrespecting women. Men are allowed to have polygamy relationships, but it brings shame to their first wives and brings them the sense that they are not respected. I don't think the book would give off the same effect if it was told from a different perspective, like from a man. Men from their culture don't see, how having multiple wives, could hurt the women they were originally married to. If the book was told from a mans perspective in a polygamy relationship, I feel that I wouldn't carry any sympathy for the main character compared to if it was from a women. I say this because he chose to have a polygamy relationship and not care about how they might feel. I believe the author wrote the perspective from an older woman in Senegal, because it's from a view people don't see or hear about often and it's something the target audience and women around the world can relate to. That men, for a long time, have disrespected women and some continue to do so in today's society around the world.