It strikes me that Condé deliberately writes the places where she sets her novels has having a very vibrant identity, which is then highlighted even more by the characters and their own individual personalities and stories. 

In Segu, the past glories, monarchy, and social structure follows our main characters wherever their paths lead. It is threaded into their motivations, their behaviours, and eventual future. The changing tides in the slave trade and the rise of Islam made this family saga of separation, disagreements, and jealousy intriguing and troubling. 

It was interesting to follow the sons' arcs and see just how their own standing, travels, choices, and experiences as sons of a highly ranked, yet disgraced noble is a determining factor in what eventually befalls them.

What strikes me about these sons is how easily they are led by lust and how most of them react violently by r@p!^& vulnerable girls and women, fleeing to other cities, or consider $^!cide. They reacted as spoilt children and were truly disgusting.