Les Otages - Contre-histoire d'un butin colonial | 
A very engaging non-fiction about the colonisation by the French of what is now #Senegal, #Guinea and #Mali, and its ramifications in modern-day France and Senegal, centered around the mythical sabre of El Hadj Oumar Tall, looted along with his treasure and library in 1890, at the sack of Ségou by the French colonial army.
The sabre (picture from https://chroniques.sn) was “lent back“ by France to the musée des civilisations noires in Dakar
Dilara Tervonen is the daughter of Finnish missionaries in Senegal. She studied in the Senegalese school system until 15 & speaks Wolof, which gives her an invaluable in into the culture & history. She writes articles for the French & Finnish press, and also in-depth, long-form journalism. I am in awe of her trilingualism. Les otages is excellent. I'll be looking for her other books, hoping they're as sensitively-written & well-researched as this one. 1y