What is N'diayene?

N'Diayene is the name of the compound (housing complex) in Dakar that is home to several of the narrative's important characters - Ramatoulaye, N'Deye Touti, Houdia M'Baye. Later, after the march from Thies to Dakar, Maimouna makes her home there and moves into a position of caregiving to Houdia M'Baye's orphaned son Strike. Because so many of the women who live there undergo significant journeys of transformation, N'Diayene can be seen as a metaphoric birthplace or womb for the female power that defines one of the novel's key themes.