Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway Critical Book Review

Monique and the Mango Rains book focuses on the narration of a friendship story between the local health care worker and the author of the novel in the context of the village of Nampossela in Mali. The book reflects critical views from the gender or feminist point-of-view. Monique and the Mango Rains is a reflection of the participation of the women in the development of the society thus the essence of feminist approach in the illustration of the healthcare issues and services in the context of West Africa.

Monique and the Mango Rains book focuses on the narration of a friendship story between the local health care worker and the author of the novel in the context of the village of Nampossela in Mali. This book is an essential and effective approach towards meeting the needs and preferences of women interested in the concept of healthcare or friendship in West Africa. Holloway offers assist to Monique Dembele in her struggle with the aim of improving the health conditions and care for the women within the village and the surrounding areas. The author of the book has the skills and expertise to offer health demonstration, develop fuel-conserving stoves, protect shoots, and repair wells. Monique is a state-sponsored health officer in the village having undertaken nine years of extensive training in the health programs and apprenticing for two years within the area. The book reflects critical views from the gender or feminist point-of-view. Monique and the Mango Rains is a reflection of the participation of the women in the development of the society thus the essence of feminist approach in the illustration of the healthcare issues and services in the context of West Africa.

Analysis

Holloway adopts and implements various concepts to demonstrate unique feminist or gender-based illustrations in the development of the book. The first expression of the feminist approach in the development of the plot is vitality of the female audience. The book is essential and effective for young women willing and able to focus on the health care issues, programs, and services in the context of West Africa .It is the duty of the author to decide on the target audience before embarking on the development of the plot and characterization. It is also ideal for the author to outline clear the target audience in relation to the setting and characters of the story. Kris achieves this effectively and efficiently through making the story to appeal directly to the female audiences. Monique and Kris are female participants in the healthcare programs thus appealing to the young women aspiring to have their career on the healthcare matters. The book is a reward to the young women because of the opportunity to adopt and implement concepts in the friendship between Monique and Kris towards the development of the plot.

Another essence of feminism in relation to the Monique and the Mango Rains novel is determination of the role of women within the society. In the traditional African society, there is a clear indication of the roles and expectations of women and men in the society. Men are expected to perform physical duties, offer protection to their families, and provide basic needs. Women on the other hand, have the obligation of administering care to their children, husbands, and perform household chores. In the Monique and the Mango Rains novel, the role of women in the society is expressed by interaction with Monique. Monique appears to perform the role of a traditional woman in the African society while administering healthcare services to the women within the community. It is the duty of the women to take care of their children .Monique executes her healthcare duties with her ever-presented baby, Basil, on her back. This is an illustration of the concept of adequate and effective execution of roles by the characters in the novel in the demonstration of the aspect of feminism. In...

She also tends to implement the caring nature of women in the society while handling the fate of those who suffer serious illness with no access to foster their medical bills.
Monique and the Mango Rains novel tends to illustrate or focus on issues affecting women in the society. This is a reflection of another feminist perspective in the development of the plot, characters, and thematic issues in the novel. For instance, the novel offers an opportunity for the readers to understand the overwhelming statistic in relation to the Malian women's lifetime risk with reference to pregnancy and childbirth death. This statistic as presented in chapter one stands at one in twelve women within the society (Hartwig 2007). This is a representation of critical contextualization and presentation of vital facts in relation to issues affecting women in the context of the West African societies. The driving force towards the development of the plot of the novel is the concepts relating to women's health issues. The author of the novel focuses on assisting Monique towards realization of the goals and objectives through setting of secure funding for the repair and development of the birthing house. In the process of executing these expectations, Kris identifies the obstacles and challenges faced by Monique in the act of providing healthcare services to the women within the society.

Another concept of feminism in the development of the plot is the essence of the discrimination of the role of women within the context of West African societies. This is evident in the presentation of the marital life of Monique within the society. Monique undergoes various challenges in the process of providing healthcare services to the women within the society. This is reflected in her little pay, lack of recognition, and no leisure time because of her gender. Monique is also trapped in an arranged marriage to a man who offers nothing to the realization of her dreams and potential .The husband offers minimal support to Monique in the execution of her duties. Monique does not receive credit for her role in the provision of healthcare services to the women within the society from her husband. This is a representation of the essence of male chauvinism within the societies in the context of West Africa. She is also afraid to divorce the man because of fear of losing her child because of the norms and culture within the society. This is a representation of male dominance in relation to the West African societies following the development of the plot and the themes.

There is also a reflection of the fight towards the liberation of women in the context of the society. This is through efforts by Kris towards liberation and empowerment of the women in the society against norms, ideas, and belief endangering their growth and development within the society. In the execution of this role, Kris focuses on acting carefully through handling and understanding of the local culture. This enables her to focus on two critical aspects: genital cutting and reproductive rights .Monique is on the birth pills, but does this secretly under the view of public opinion as a prostitute. There is an effort by Monique and Kris to focus on the empowerment of women in the society through changing their views on the concept of available birth control measures. Kris also identifies the negative implications of genital cutting during the birth processes on women within the society. This is a source of their friendship towards liberation of women against customs endangering their growth and development as a reflection of poor health conditions. This is a reflection of fight towards the development and integration of women's rights in enhancing their health conditions and participation in the…