the renegades

Badiadji Horrétowdo

Emmanuelle Collas Éditions, 288 pages, 2026

Why you should take a look at it:
 √ A hidden world unveiled

√ Sharp social commentary

√ An uncompromising voice against social justice

In The Renegades (Les transfuges), acclaimed Cameroonian writer Badiadji Horrétowdo delivers a sharp, searing satire of social hypocrisy, exploring the hidden underbelly of gender inequality and survival. Published for the first time in France, this marks the author's sixth novel and powerful debut on the European literary scene.

The novel follows Binta, Habiba, and Djamilah, three women desperate to escape the rigid constraints of conservative society in North Cameroon. Drawn to the southern city of Douala by the promise of freedom and prosperity, they find themselves caught in the web of Hadja Halmata—a fellow defector who has built a lucrative empire known as Halmata Holding.

Beneath the veneer of fairytale romance and false pretenses, everything has a price. Operating under the cynical watch of their new matriarch, the women are pulled into a disguised system of prostitution.

The dark heart of the novel lies in how carefully the exploitation is disguised. The women genuinely believe they are participating in courtship and looking for a traditional second marriage.

Horrétowdo uses sharp prose and dark humor to dissect systemic failures.

The Renegades is an extraordinarily accurate and uncompromising internal migration and survival story. 

Badiadji Horrétowdo is a prominent Cameroonian engineer, consultant, engineering school teacher, and author. He is recognized as a socially engaged writer whose literary works critique systemic injustices, gender inequality, and social hypocrisy.He is married to the internationally acclaimed Cameroonian author and feminist activist, Djaïli Amadou Amal.