Daring to Speak Its Name
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THESE LETTERS END IN TEARS
A Novel
by Musih Tedji Xaviere
Catapult. 240 pages, $27.

CAMEROONIAN WRITER Musih Tedji Xaviere’s debut novel, These Letters End in Tears, focuses on the illicit love affair between two women who are willing to risk their lives to be together. Bessem is Christian and Fatima, or Fati, is Muslim, and they meet on the eve of entering college. As the title suggests, the book opens with a letter and an impending sense of tragedy that lingers throughout. This is a moving story set in the present day that illustrates the toll of anti-LGBT attitudes in Cameroon.