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This children's book published in 1932 gloryfying the virtues of the French civilizing mission in Africa is aimed at young French readers. The novel tells the story of a teenaged female slave who is initiated into the merit of French language and culture by the son of a good-natured French Governor. As the young man is taken ill, the young woman spends all her resource and energy to find a cure for her mentor's ailment and she embarks on a succession of higly implausible adventures. They reach their climax amidst a chorus of acclaim welcoming French colonisers with eagerness and gratitude to the tune of "Long live France". Unashamedly propagandist, the only redeeming feature of this book is the unusual fact that, ahead of its time, it casts at the centre of the narration a sympathetic and resolute young Black African women brimming with life.
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