It all started with a viral video in Senegal. It shows a man's corpse being dug up and dragged out of a cemetery by a crowd. As soon as he sees it, Ndéné Gueye, a young literature teacher disillusioned with teaching and tired of the moral hypocrisy of his society, becomes interested, even obsessed, with the event. Who was this man? Why was his body exhumed? To these questions, there was only one answer: he was a góor-jigéen, it was said, a “man-woman”. In other words, a homosexual.

Ndéné sets out to find out more about this man's past, and even meets his mother. All around him, in the academic world as well as within his own family, suspicions and rumors arise, destabilizing him to the point of disturbing his relationship with his friend Rama, with whom he is deeply in love, Rama with her generous mouth and mysterious hair...

In his feverish writing, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr has written a deeply moving novel about the only big question that matters to his hero: how to find the courage to be oneself fully, without betraying or lying to oneself, and whatever the cost?

“The warm city air is already kissing my face. The rumor is getting closer. I open my arms as if to a brother. Lucidity... The one Rama was talking about. Lucidity... Perhaps this is it. A few more steps and she'll blind me. I've made my choice.”