In Women Writers of Gabon: Literature and Herstory, French studies scholar Cheryl Toman provides extensive tools to understand how Gabonese Afra writers (such as Angèle Rawiri, Justine Mintsa, Sylvie Ntsame, and Honorine Ngou) represent women’s embodied experiences at the juncture of gender, sexuality, Westernization, and oppressive aspects of African traditions. By centering on the significance of symbolic drama and the ritualizing of experiences, the book pioneers scholarship that examines Gabonese women writers’ unique, and often overlooked, feminist use of Fang traditions.... Writers of Gabon demonstrates the compelling contributions made by Gabonese women writers in literature and culture.

Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature

Cheryl Toman has rendered an invaluable service to the field of women’s studies, most particularly in regards to women writers of the francophone world, with her Women Writers of Gabon: Literature and Herstory, the first-ever comprehensive and extremely well-researched examination in English of Gabonese women’s writing. Moreover, despite the fact there are some analyses in French of Gabonese women’s writing, not one of them is as comprehensive as Toman’s.... Toman very eloquently and adeptly justifies why Gabonese women deserved to be respected and recognized as a highly significant force in African literature.

Women in French Studies

This study puts the spotlight on what is clearly a gap in literary and academic writing on African literary production in French.... Toman has worked with Gabonese women writers for several years and her research included field trips to Gabon. The rich literary review that has emerged from these encounters is an insightful introduction to a unique literary scene and a sound point of departure for future research.

Bulletin of Francophone Postcolonial Studies

A very interesting segment of Toman’s study resides in a rare exploration of the role and importance of the Fang culture in Gabonese women’s writing.... [T]he book...remains a timely, much-needed, and resourceful study of Gabonese women’s writing.

French Studies

This is a landmark book that fills a major gap in African literary studies by attending to the overlooked and lesser-known Gabonese literary tradition. Cheryl Toman delivers a brilliant literary, cultural and feminist analysis of Gabonese women writings that provide critical insights to a vibrant literary scene in Gabon.

Ayo A. Coly, Dartmouth College

Presenting her readers with an insightful analysis of the works of the first generation of women writers of Gabon, Cheryl Toman examines the ways in which the writers articulate the economic, political and social issues of their society and depict the richness of their unique cultural heritage. Arguing that Gabonese women writers have not received the attention they merit, she confirms the unique contributions of Gabonese women writers to contemporary African literature.

Mildred Mortimer, University of Colorado