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Petals of Blood by Ngugi Wa Thiongio
The Mau Mau rebellion, as it is often called, which began in Kenya in the early 1950s, was a nationalist, anticolonial armed resistance against the British colonial state.
The guerrilla movement called itself the Kenya Land Freedom Army; the British dubbed the movement “mau mau,” a meaningless name, to obscure the aims otherwise so clear in the resistance army’s name.
Ngugi Wa Thiongío’s Petals of Blood examines, among other things, the betrayal by the postcolonial regime of the ideals of this anticolonial struggle that helped Kenya achieve its independence.
The novel revolves around three men and a woman. The four friends reveal different aspects of their history to each other piecemeal, just as their families had guardedly explained the past to them. The lingering effects of the Mau Mau revolt have affected all their lives and by the end of the novel, each character is wrapped up in his or her own exclusive epiphany about life in Kenya.
Abdullah, the trader, thinks he failed the movement because he did not avenge the death of a friend who was a revolutionary and who was betrayed. Munira, the schoolteacher and eventual wide-eyed prophet, is paralyzed by the shadow of his successful father, who condemned the Mau Mau but aided the crony corruption of independent Kenya. Wanja, the beauty from a broken home, learns that it was two generations of revolutionary fervor that distorted the home she grew up in. And Karega, Thiongío’s union-pushing hero, scrutinizes the history of Mau Mau as if it were a sacred text. Somewhere in that history, they all believe, is the key to wisdom and justice.
Place by DRR, Clifton Gachagua and Fr...
Ritual by Carey Baraka, Wairimu Murii...
Brief Summary
Ritual is the second issue of drr and was published in August 2020. It's the largest issue of the journal so far and features works from more than 40 writers and artists from Africa and the African diaspora exploring a range of work around the theme of Ritual. Carey Baraka and Wairimu Muriithi are the series editors of Ritual.
Deception by Amal Mohamed
Old Africa Magazine
The perfect nine: the epic of Gikuyu ...
Brief Summary
A dazzling, genre-defying novel in verse, from the author Delia Owens says “tackles the absurdities, injustices, and corruption of a continent”
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s novels and memoirs have received glowing praise from the likes of President Barack Obama, the New Yorker, the New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, and NPR; he has been a finalist for the Man International Booker Prize and is annually tipped to win the Nobel Prize for Literature; and his books have sold tens of thousands of copies around the world.
In his first attempt at the epic form, Ngũgĩ tells the story of the founding of the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya, from a strongly feminist perspective. A verse narrative, blending folklore, mythology, adventure, and allegory, The Perfect Nine chronicles the efforts the Gĩkũyũ founders make to find partners for their ten beautiful daughters—called “The Perfect Nine” —and the challenges they set for the 99 suitors who seek their hands in marriage. The epic has all the elements of adventure, with suspense, danger, humor, and sacrifice.
Ngũgĩ’s epic is a quest for the beautiful as an ideal of living, as the motive force behind migrations of African peoples. He notes, “The epic came to me one night as a revelation of ideals of quest, courage, perseverance, unity, family; and the sense of the divine, in human struggles with nature and nurture.”
The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiongo
My Life with a Criminal by John Kiria...
John Kiriamiti's best-selling novel My Life in Crime has become a classic. Here Milly, his girlfriend, tells the poignant story of her life with the bank robber.
They were in love, and he was gentle, kind and considerate. But after she moved in with him, she discovered his double life. She remained devoted, but the stress of his life bore its toll, and finally they parted. This sequel novel is also a bestseller in Kenya.
The Sinister Trophy by John Kiriamiti
Written by the author of the popular Son of Fate, this follow-up story tells of Adams Wamathina, better known as Son of Fate, who is searching for a trophy which other parties will stop at nothing to get.
The action takes place in Nairobi and Tanzania and Son of Fate finds himself involved with car chases and murder as he becomes embroiled in the chase.
My Life in Crime by John Kiriamiti
The late 1960's and early '70s may be remembered as the years of the great bank and other armed robberies in Kenya. This is the true story of one of the participants in some of those robberies, John Kiriamit. In raw and candid language, Kiramiti tells the story of how he dropped out of secondary school when he was only fifteen years old, and for a time became a novice pickpocket, before graduating into crimes like car-breaking and ultimately into violent robbery.
This spell-binding story takes the reader into the underworld of crime, and it depicts graphically the criminal's struggle for survival against the forces of law.
The Ultimate Femme Fatale by Makenah ...
Brief Summary
In the twist of events, Dan , A young detective goes to the extremes in a bid to arrest a woman he believes to be the most feared kingpin in the district.
Her wealth and social standing notwithstanding, the entire precinct is up in arms in covert ops and random searches when the death of a hitman brings to a halt, the biggest investigation in the history of the district.
Carol, code name Wasp, despite being a notorious criminal, offers to help solve the death of the mystery man.
A life Undeserved Maingis Tribulation...
Brief Summary
A life Undeserved Maingis Tribulations is a breathtaking suspenseful, rapid paced and touching search for rewards that really accrue out of hard work, faithfulness and self discipline. In this novel Warugongo Wamathai juxtaposes the labyrinths of the good, bad , genuine, faithful, virtuous, vile, fate, destiny and absurdity that living and relationship serve humanity. A brilliantly woven magnificent piece.
Weight of Whispers by Yvonne Adhiambo...
How to Write about Africa by Binyavan...
This trio of sharp-witted essays takes irony to a new level. In 'How to Write About Africa', Wainaina dissects the cliché of Africa and the preconceptions dear to western writers and readers with ruthless precision.
In the same fashion, ‘My Clan KC’ undresses the layers of meaning shrouding the identity of the infamous Kenya Cowboy, while ‘Power of Love’ bemusedly recollects the advent of the celebrities-for-Africa phenomenon, heralded by the mid-eighties hit song ‘We Are The World’.
It also scrutinizes the international NGO circuit and the transactions between ‘dollar-a-day people’ and $5000-a-month United Nations consultants whose started off as ‘$5-dollar-a-day’, 25-year-old backpackers full of ‘love and compassion’ for the continent.
The Delegates Friend by Edward Mwangi
Brief Summary
Franciscar’s desire of establishing the deep secrets tormenting her single mother are crashed when Franciscar and her younger sister faces the most horrendous thing in life.
Grace falls into depression when she comes to terms with what has happened to her two lovely girls. She leaves the punctured sixteen year old Franciscar and Doris into the hands of a cruel world:- a world with no single relative. How can they balance between the pain and the survival?
Read this thrilling story whose suspense will keep you at the edge of your seat
Unfurling Stories and Poems by Pen Ad...
These stories and poems represent the creative work of authors and poets from all around Kenya who gather
together under the umbrella of Parklands Baptist Church.
The material ranges from fictionalized Bible stories, testimonies, and reflective pieces revolving around
biblical characters to general fiction and stories based on real- life experiences.
The People of Ostrich Mountain by Ndi...
Brief Summary
As the 1950s Mau Mau war breaks out in the foothills of Mt. Kenya, Wambũi, a fourteen-year-old girl leaves her besieged village to join a prestigious boarding school a half day’s journey away by train. There, she becomes aware of her extraordinary mathematical abilities discovered by her teacher, Eileen Atwood. Initially, Wambũi views Eileen’s attentions with suspicion and hostility, but over time, the two grow close and form a lifelong friendship. Unfortunately for Wambũi, the mid-twentieth century isn’t ready for a female math prodigy, particularly in Kenya.
But she quietly and defiantly takes on the obstacles seeking to define her, applying her unusual gifts in new directions, which ultimately benefits her impoverished family and inspires her siblings and their children to pursue their own dreams. After forty years in Kenya, Eileen unexpectedly loses her employment authorization and is forced to return to England, where she struggles to adjust to living in a country she barely recognizes. Meanwhile, Wambũi’s son, Ray, a doctor, navigates a fraught visa application process and travels to America to begin residency training; however, his hospital becomes insolvent and shuts down a year later. He and his colleagues are assimilated into other programs where, as foreign-born physicians, they endure relentless prejudice. As a black man, he also discovers that the streets of Chicago are sometimes quick to judge, with serious consequences.
A saga of family and friendship spanning five decades and three continents, 'The People of Ostrich Mountain' chronicles the interconnected lives of three outsiders as they navigate the vagaries of race, gender and immigration.
The Ogre An Anthology of Short Storie...
Brief Summary
From deception in leadership and relationships to the space of traditional cultural practices in independent Africa, the Ogre is a collection of short stories inspired by experiences in a modern Africa struggling to hold on to the age-old culture and traditions amidst the disruptions of modernity.
It chronicles the everyday challenges, conflicts, aspirations, happiness and failures in a quintessentially 21st-century African society.
