Sembène's second novel, "O Pays, mon beau peuple!" ("Oh country, my beautiful people!", 1957), tells the story of Oumar, an ambitious black farmer returning to his native Casamance with a new white wife and ideas for modernizing the area's agricultural practices. However, Oumar struggles against both the French colonial government and the village social order, and is eventually murdered. "O Pays, mon beau peuple!" was an international success, giving Sembène invitations from around the world, particularly from Communist countries such as China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union.