QUICK DELIVERY
Swift dispatch
-20%
This Red Land: A novel
KShs1,800.00 KShs1,600.00
The Forbidden Fruit
KShs1,000.00 KShs800.00
The Girl of Red Beauty
KShs1,000.00 KShs800.00
In these thirteen chapters of verse, titled The Girl of Red Beauty, Alfred Nyagaka Nyamwange captures voices of the people of Gusii, AbaGusii, through their songs, proverbs and play games. The voices pronounce AbaGusii philosophies, fears, moods, and tempo as they work and traverse the hills and the valleys that constitute the Gusii Highlands. The element of the poetry here emanates from the beliefs, norms, proverbs, sayings, wisdom, songs, stories, and the environment, all of which combine to produce a presence of living souls. The personas fully manifest in an active environment, whereby, at every strum of the lyre and roll of the drum, the verse comes alive. Welcome, sing and dance along.
What Others Say
Nyamwange writes in the trend of African oral tradition with his poetry using local imagery and idioms, and of simple and direct language. “It affirms valuable continuity with pre-colonial African culture synthesized with other cultures to create something unique.” – Dr. Chris Okemwa, Author, Poet and Lecturer in Literary Studies.
“The uniqueness of the anthology of this poetry lies in the thorough depiction of the culture of AbaGusii from different facets such as marriage, circumcision, religion, environment through poetry. The work resembles great poetry such as Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol.” – Dr. Andrew Nyongesa, Editor and Literary Scholar
Shipping
Reviews (1)
1 review for The Girl of Red Beauty
Clear filters
Vendor Info
Vendor Information
- Store Name: Nsemia Inc Publishers
- Vendor: Linda Kiboma
- No ratings found yet!
More Products
Mwangi’s Adventure
When Mwangi helped a distressed lady change a punctured car tyre one day, he thought it was just that. Little did he know that the token of appreciation that the lady gave him was a trigger that would set him off on an adventure of mixed fortunes. On one hand danger looms large and, on the other, he has to keep a job as an assistant to a young Irish researcher named Trevor. Trevor, as well, finds himself on a new path with the thugs pursuing Mwangi. How the two youths juggle between their research and safety, in and around Nyandarũa, is the thrill of this compelling narrative.
The Untold Story:Gusii Survival Techniques and Resistance to the Establishment of British Colonial Rule
The Untold Story, Gusii Survival Techniques and Resistance to the Establishment of British Colonial
Rule. There is little written about the resistance to the establishment of the British colonial rule in Gusii.
The scant knowledge available on this historical phenomenon in Kenya is inaccurate and intentionally
distorted in favour of the colonial master. The truth, contrary to the incorrect histories presented by the
British, is that the Kings African Rival soldiers suffered humiliating defeat in their initial encounter with
Gusii warriors. It was a landmark historical event. Otenyo Nyamaterere is incorrectly portrayed as a
frustrated and deranged lone-ranger who was high on narcotics when he attacked with a spear and
injured the first District Commissioner of Kisii, Geoffrey Northcote. In a fierce rebuttal to this falsehood
existing in colonial narratives, this book attempts to correct this erroneousness portrayal of a lead
warrior who valiantly came out in defense of community and its lands.
And there is context to this resistance. Over many years, the Gusii had honed their fighting skills and
survival strategies from the many years of struggle against the hostile and warlike neighbours – the
Maasai, the Kipsigis and the Luo. These skills and strategies that came in handy when later the Gusii
faced a more formidable external aggressor – the Kings African Rival soldiers. The Gusii warriors fought
with valour, demonstrating great fighting skills in their encounter with these forces of conquest even as
the latter were better armed. Inevitably the warriors lost, defeated due to the British superior
weaponry. The Gusii weapons and hand to hand combat fighting could not match the British gun power.
A Mysterious Woman
A Mysterious Woman is a captivating story of Nyang’arisa, the protagonist and a woman who chose a life of crime for survival. Unlike what society is accustomed to, Nyang’arisa joins a group of men, her ‘business partners,’ to make a living through an unlawful acquisition of what belongs to others.
After some time, Nyang’arisa finds love in a young, hardworking, and loving man, Michael, whom she later marries. The thought of Michael knowing of her life in crime makes her scared and restless. She chooses to lead a mysterious life, with her history hidden from her husband and family. Nyang’arisa builds a new family, her tainted past notwithstanding. However, she lives always looking back over her shoulder with the nagging thought that her past might one day catch up with her.
True to her thoughts, her past catches up with her as she ends up spending the rest of her life behind bars.
The Weight of Black Tongues and Other Stories
“The Weight of Black Tongues is an anthology of over half a dozen original short stories by an emerging star of new Kenyan literature, Bonface Nyamweya. This debut collection is both startling and gripping – envision it as a ride on the tail of a shooting star, zooming through Kenya’s night skies, each twinkle representing a unique story. As a dynamic figure in post-COVID-19 literary circles, whom I have had the honour of mentoring, Nyamweya showcases the depth and scope of storytelling in Kenya, transitioning from unusual novels and sartorial poetry to making his mark in short story fiction. From the enigmatic Whose Title Died to the riveting Waiting for Mama, each title in this new book invites readers into a world of mystery and profound reflection, solidifying Nyamweya as a rising force in African literature in the wake of the fin de siècle.
My Skinny Cow on an Anthill
My Skinny Cow, set in rural Seito which slowly urbanizes and brings a new order, is the captivating story of Asiago and Obiri from their youth to old age. The two work hard in school to become heroes and beacons of hope for the future of the community. The reader is taken through a rich cultural heritage, epitomized most vividly by the community’s wedding tradition, which leaves the reader yearning for more. Even with the old striving to preserve the life-long glorious cultural traditions of the people, modernity comes with a price. The emergence of an all-knowing clique of youth threatens the community’s future; what with disputes between the traditional local elite and the youth determined to have their way with the societal changes they desire.
Danger lucks either way: the rush to modernize at the expense of tradition and the desire to preserve tradition in the face of modernization. Which way for Seito? You, the reader, tell us!
What Others Say
“The novel demonstrates imagination and originality in league with the postmodernist canon, which upholds traditional cultures that are misconstrued by modernist views as peripheral and obsolete.” – Dr. Andrew Nyongesa, teacher, author, critic and literary scholar.
A Prisoner of Hope
In A Prisoner of Hope, the Reverend Augustine Rugutt takes us through an emotional spiritual journey of the life, values and teachings of his mother Pauline Cherono Taptulmat Chepkulul. It is a tale of challenges that few non-believers would overcome, but which his mother overcame in the end. Pauline believed in the Lord and was guided by spiritual belief throughout her life. She suffered but remained hopeful for a better future. As the author testifies, neither sickness nor poverty could deter the spirit that directed her virtuous existence. She was indeed a prisoner of hope, and not only was she able to see her children succeed, but also imparted on them invaluable life-long lessons that continue to shape their lives and those of their children. They are values for all generations present and future.
The Reverend Rugutt writes admiringly about his mother and the values she held through her time on earth. He generously shares these intimate tales believing there are lessons for us all as human beings on our earthly and spiritual journeys.
A Prisoner of Hope is a must read for all. It is essential for those who, faced with challenges and suffering, may be about to give up hope.
Related products
When I learned how to walk and other poems by Mumbi Macharia
Brief Summary
'When I learned how to walk & other poems', is a compilation of 17 poems written by myself (I have been a performing spoken word poet in Nairobi for the past 5 years, and this is my debut poetry book).
The poems in this book span a wide range of topics, from African power, love, identity, mental health, and the inevitability of heartbreak.
The book is a small one, 61 pages, however, it contains poems that are meant to be re-read as many times as the reader wishes. The book is largely in English, and contains a few lines in Swahili, with one of the poems being entirely in Swahili.
ISBN:9789914700473
Author: Mumbi Macharia
The People of Ostrich Mountain by Ndirangu Githaiga
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.
My Life in Prison by John Kiriamiti
Brief summary
This is a thriller novel set in Kenya, Nairobi. It rolls through a forest of crime of a gang led by John Kiriamiti alias Jack Zollo.
Their main set is robbery, with violence. Jack the wanted criminal is in love with an innocent girl, Milly- who lives in a fool’s paradise not knowing exactly what her handsome man does for a living.
Jack must harbor secrets, nurture his love and yet evade the deadly police at the same time. Will he continue being lucky?
The Beasts Under Your Bed by JM Rogoi
Brief Summary
Every day, the populace wakes before dawn to head to the blast furnaces of Nairobi’s Industrial Area leaving behind another bustling economy of daily subsistence carried on by the not so lucky. The drinking dens gobble up what they so work hard for and the cycle continues.
The Beasts Under Your Bed follows the travails of one such young man raised in these cesspool that he refuses, is helpless or unable to say goodbye to. He looks for love and light at the end of the bottle and carnal and filial relations. Will he find what he’s looking for? Will he finally manage to escape the chains that so tie him to ‘a man can leave the village but the village cannot leave the man?’
Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
From a breathtaking new voice, a novel about a splintered family in Kenya—a story of power and deceit, unrequited love, survival and sacrifice.
Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home in the Kenyan dry lands, seeking some comfort and peace.
But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany’s mercurial mother flees in a fit of rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas’ house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge.
In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation.
Here is a spellbinding novel about a brother and sister who have lost their way; about how myths come to pass, history is written, and war stains us forever.
One Life too Many by Yusuf Dawood
Brief Summary
Sydney Walker, young and carefree, came to Kenya in search of adventure, fell in love with the country and decided to make it his home.
This is the story of the joys and sorrows of a man who worked hard and loved even harder. A magnificent account of expatriate life, set in the awe- inspiring beauty of Kenya, it confirms Yusuf K. Dawood as one of the greatest storytellers of our time.
Premium Tears by Collins Sakwah
While in Canada, safari websites and youtube channels sold to Zuri an image of a utopian Kenya, a land of hospitable people, natural beauty, nd world wonders. Upon arrival, however, she learns that Kenya is a far cry from what she expected.
Unbeknown to her when she falls in love with Aiden, the poorest student in the university was that her father betrothed her to the son of his business partner as part of his business agreement.
When she is forced to choose between saving her fathers shares in a multi-million real estate company and the man she loves, she chooses to follow her heart. Her quest for love leads her into making discoveries within her fathers real estate company that threaten her life and those of her loved ones.
The Girl Was Mine by David Karanja
In The Girl Was Mine, Douglas Kamau struggles to keep Nancy Wanja his girlfriend, but the prevailing forces almost cost him his life.
Whether or not Douglas emerges victorious is the ultimate question.
The world favors rich tycoons like Tim Matthews and makes them confident that they can have anything they want, even the love of an unwilling young woman. Nancy's father Waihenya will do anything for money and position.
Who Will Catch Us As We Fall by Iman Verjee
Haunted by a past that has kept her from Nairobi for over three years, Leena returns home to discover her family unchanged: her father is still a staunch patriot dreaming of a better country; her mother is still unwilling or unable to let go of the past; and her brother spends his days provoking the establishment as a political activist.
When Leena meets a local Kikuyu artist whose past is linked to her own, the two begin a secret affair—one that forces Leena to again question her place in a country she once called home.
Interlinked with Leena’s story is that of Jeffery: a corrupt policeman burdened with his own angers and regrets, and whose questionable actions have unexpected and catastrophic consequences for those closest to him. Who Will Catch Us as We Fall is an epic look at the politics and people of Kenya.
Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiongo
Brief Summary
From the exiled Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and literary critic--a magisterial comic novel that is certain to take its place as a landmark of postcolonial African literature. In exile now for more than twenty years, Ngugi wa Thiongo has become one of the most widely read African writers of our time, the power and scope of his work garnering him international attention and praise.
His aim in Wizard of the Crow is, in his own words, nothing less than "to sum up Africa of the twentieth century in the context of two thousand years of world history.” Commencing in "our times” and set in the "Free Republic of Aburiria,” the novel dramatizes with corrosive humor and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburirian people. Among the contenders: His High Mighty Excellency; the eponymous Wizard, an avatar of folklore and wisdom; the corrupt Christian Ministry; and the nefarious Global Bank.
Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, Wizard of the Crow reveals humanity in all its endlessly surprising complexity. Informed by richly enigmatic traditional African storytelling, Wizard of the Crow is a masterpiece, the crowning achievement in Ngugl wa Thiongo’s career thus far.
Of pawns and players by Kinyanjui Kombani
Kinyanjui Kombani’s newest novel Of Pawns and Players is now available for pre-order. This is the third novel from the Nairobi, Kenya based author popularly known as the "banker who writes”.
Kinyanjui Kombani is a Kenyan novelist, playwright, scriptwriter, and literature activist. He burst onto the scene in 2004 with his debut novel The Last Villains of Molo one of the few pieces of art that have been produced about Kenya’s first post-election crisis in 1991. We loved it.
He followed in 2013 with Den of Inequities a book that follows a killer gang in Nairobi that we also loved.
Apart from fiction for adults, he wrote two books for children in 2007 Wangari Maathai: Mother of Trees a biography of Kenya’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai and We Can Be Friends: Theme, Spread of HIV/AIDS. He also wrote a Young Adult book called Finding Columbia which won the Burt Award for Young Adult Literature in Accra, Ghana last year.
The author’s new novel Of Pawns and Players tackles the underground world of betting in the simple and humorous narrative style that has made him a household name in contemporary fiction.
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
In the face of the misery in his homeland, the artist Masuji Ono was unwilling to devote his art solely to the celebration of physical beauty. Instead, he put his work in the service of the imperialist movement that led Japan into World War II.
Now, as the mature Ono struggles through the aftermath of that war, his memories of his youth and of the "floating world”—the nocturnal world of pleasure, entertainment, and drink—offer him both escape and redemption, even as they punish him for betraying his early promise.
Indicted by society for its defeat and reviled for his past aesthetics, he relives the passage through his personal history that makes him both a hero and a coward but, above all, a human being.
Travelling While Black By Nanjala Nyabola
Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move.
What does it feel like to move through a world designed to limit and exclude you? What are the joys and pains of holidays for people of colour, when guidebooks are never written with them in mind? How are black lives today impacted by the othering legacy of colonial cultures and policies? What can travel tell us about our sense of self, of home, of belonging and identity? Why has the world order become hostile to human mobility, as old as humanity itself, when more people are on the move than ever?
Nanjala Nyabola is constantly exploring the world, working with migrants and confronting complex realities challenging common assumptions - both hers and others'. From Nepal to Botswana, Sicily to Haiti, New York to Nairobi, her sharp, humane essays ask tough questions and offer surprising, deeply shocking and sometimes funny answers. It is time we saw the world through her eyes.
Author: Nanjala Nyabola
The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
Brief Summary
From the award-winning author of Dust comes a vibrant, stunning coming-of-age novel about a young woman struggling to find her place in a vast world--a poignant exploration of fate, mortality, love, and loss.
On the island of Pate, off the coast of Kenya, lives solitary, stubborn Ayaana and her mother, Munira. When a sailor named Muhidin, also an outsider, enters their lives, Ayaana finds something she has never had before: a father. But as Ayaana grows into adulthood, forces of nature and history begin to reshape her life and the island itself--from a taciturn visitor with a murky past to a sanctuary-seeking religious extremist, from dragonflies to a tsunami, from black-clad kidnappers to cultural emissaries from China.
Ayaana ends up embarking on a dramatic ship's journey to the Far East, where she will discover friends and enemies; be seduced by the charming but unreliable scion of a powerful Turkish business family; reclaim her devotion to the sea; and come to find her own tenuous place amid a landscape of beauty and violence and surprising joy.
Told with a glorious lyricism and an unerring sense of compassion, The Dragonfly Sea is a transcendent story of adventure, fraught choices, and of the inexorable need for shelter in a dangerous world.
Linda Kiboma –
Reviewer: Sylvia Okweba, May 19th, 2023
Our cultural heritage and first languages are slowly becoming extinct as people grow up and interact with others through foreign education or even through intermarriage. Also, every fortnight an elder dies and carries with them into the grave the last syllables of an ancient tongue and the last of their traditions if not preserved by the current generation. The Girl of Red Beauty by Alfred Nyagaka Nyamwange is a collection of poems that seeks to tell its readers of the rich traditions, cultural practices, beliefs, and philosophy of the Gusii people that others may believe to be archaic and of no importance.
Alfred captures very detailed information about the almost forgotten practices in his book The Girl of Red Beauty by taking readers through the thirteen chapters of his book bringing out the rich diverse traditions of the Abagusii people. He captures this by making use of direct translation and local dialect. Alfred uses the rich Gusii language Ekegusii to place the poems in the Gusii land context. He alludes praises to The Girl of Red Beauty and through her, he takes us through the various Gusii traditions such as birth, childhood, circumcision, marriage, old age, death, ancestors, God, love, and much more.
Alfred uses vivid imagery as a writing style to bring the poems to life. For instance, in chapter five titled, Isn’t this Our Land?, he vividly describes the richness of the land – “…Our land bears the red beauty fertility…clothed in lush green and plenitude….” He masterfully weaves together themes of nature and human emotion, creating a powerful sense of connection between the two as humans and nature coexist together. His use of metaphors and symbolism is effective in adding meaning and depth to the poems. Chapter Six, The Panic at Night, is written symbolically trying to explain the different races or rather skin colours of different people.
Some of the strengths of this poetry are how the author explores the different traditions and cultures within the Omogusii community. He covers the different dynamics of life from birth, circumcision, the courting period, marriage, and even how the Gusii people react to different happenings such as death, the birth of a new baby, and even to when a cow is stolen. Alfred does a good job of capturing the complexity of human relationships with everyday lives and sensitivity.
The structure of the whole collection is well-crafted with each chapter building upon the themes explored in the previous chapter. The poems are arranged in a way that creates a sense of progression and growth up to the last chapter of the book. The chapters revolve around culture and tradition for instance in chapter one The Girl of Red Beauty – “…my father’s drinking straw cannot be given to anybody …” Here, the author shows the traditions of the Gusii people.
One of my favourite poems from the collection is Chapter Seven titled The Burner of Its Own House (omosamba mwaye) contradicting as the title may sound, the poem captures the whole birth to the weaning process of a newborn baby – “…for nine months she is in a daze when with her overgrown tummy…” It also covers the self-care of the mother by highlighting the foods she must eat and the herbs too. The author details how a mother goes into labour with the husband passing up and down patiently waiting to hear the newborn’s cries as they make their way to the earth. He explains how, after a baby has stopped breastfeeding, he/she is sent with food to take to the father. This was an indication to the father that the baby has stopped breastfeeding and now he could rejoin the wife. The poem beautifully captures the beauty and joys of motherhood and the hope that comes with the birth of a newborn as they will continue the lineage.
I highly recommend The Girl of Red Beauty to anyone who loves poetry and would love to explore diverse rich African cultures, traditions, and philosophy. Alfred’s way of writing is deeply insightful and this collection is sure to leave a lasting impression on its readers.