"I'm leaving" tells the story of Coura, a Frenchwoman of Senegalese origin who decides to escape her life.

She leaves Paris without telling anyone, then returns weeks later, changed forever.

Because Diary Sow had a similar experience last January.

A half-month "break", as she put it, having put the Senegalese authorities on the alert, until President Macky Sall, who gave instructions for her to be found.

"My experience inspired me a lot" to give body to the main character, "my alter ego", she explains to AFP, refusing, however, to recount her long runaway, a "strictly personal" moment.

"I am not Coura and she is not me," she insists.

If Coura grew up rich, Diary Sow had a humble childhood, on the small Senegalese coast, where she was born 21 years ago.

Unlike her heroine, the writer could however count on a loving father, who died last year, "who told me to raise my voice instead of bullying it", she recalls.

"Spoils of war"

"If he had remained alive, I do not think that all this would have happened", observes the slender young woman with the intense gaze, whose chiseled speech, always preceded by short moments of reflection, denotes a great maturity.

Brilliant, Diary Sow is crowned twice best student of Senegal, in 2018 and 2019, a distinction as prestigious as commented in this poor West African country.

The Senegalese student Diary Sow, author of the novel "Je pars", on the voluntary disappearance of a young woman, an experience she herself lived, poses during a photo session in Paris on November 8, 2021. JOEL SAGET AFP

With her bac in her pocket, this excellence scholarship holder went to study in a prestigious Parisian scientific preparatory class.

In 2020, she published her first novel, strengthening her national notoriety.

But last January, Diary Sow slips away, does not give any more news to anyone.

An investigation for "worrying" disappearance is opened in France.

Senegal fears the worst, right up to the top of the state.

"We had the impression of having lost a spoils of war, a trophy," remembers Zoubida Fall, Senegalese news writer.

"In the middle of Paris, we saw people looking for her with signs: + We are looking for the best student in Senegal. + There was not even her name."

When the student reappears, comments pour in, often "vile", Ms. Fall continues: "When in our society we take someone as an example and this someone gets out of hand, we have reactions that can be extremely violent. "

To reinvent oneself"

The Senegalese poet Amadou Lamine Sall wants to be less lenient.

Diary Sow "took pleasure in being known, in being photographed. She lent herself to this game, so she pays the price," he says, when other award-winning high school students in Senegal "did not know these adventures ".

And to quote Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, best final year student in the country in 2009, who after "a lot of work", was awarded the prestigious French Goncourt Prize at the beginning of November: "If she takes the time to work, maybe she can will she also become a great writer in twenty years. "

Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, winner of the 2021 Goncourt prize for his novel "The most secret memory of men", in Paris on November 3, 2021 Bertrand GUAY AFP / Archives

But the Senegalese, who says she is sometimes stopped in the street by compatriots telling her that she "is worth nothing", does not want to wait.

"I'm leaving" is in this sense a fictionalized response to critics.

"I wrote this book to settle some scores", recognizes the young woman "imprisoned by the opinion of others", whose identity has according to her "been so distorted that (she) can no longer stick to this character".

The Senegalese student Diary Sow, author of the novel "Je pars", on the voluntary disappearance of a young woman, an experience she herself lived, poses during a photo session in Paris on November 8, 2021. JOEL SAGET AFP

So Diary Sow wants to "shock".

She makes Coura discover her sensuality, when one rarely talks about female intimacy in Senegal.

"I wanted to provoke repulsion, incomprehension, disgust, I don't care as long as it's not indifference."

She thus hopes, to the rhythm of Coura's escapades, to "reinvent" her life.

And to dare: "Maybe one day I will manage to be the one who defines my own image."

© 2021 AFP