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Wanjiku wa Ngugi

Auteur de The Fall of Saints

2+ oeuvres 40 utilisateurs 3 critiques

A propos de l'auteur

Comprend les noms: Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, Wanjikũ wa Ngũgĩ

Œuvres de Wanjiku wa Ngugi

The Fall of Saints (2014) 23 exemplaires
Seasons in Hippoland (2021) 17 exemplaires
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Oeuvres associées

New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (1992) — Contributeur — 88 exemplaires
Nairobi Noir (2020) — Contributeur — 32 exemplaires
Houston Noir (2019) — Contributeur — 27 exemplaires

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Seasons in Hippoland
Seasons in Hippoland was a serendipitous loan from a Bayside Library display. It has an arresting title, a moody cover image and an author name that I (sort of) recognised...

Wanjikũ Wa Ngũgĩ is the daughter of Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (whose books I have reviewed here). She was born in Kenya, educated in the US and has lived and worked in Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Finland. Wikipedia tells me that her CV includes journalism and editorial work as well as founding and directing the Helsinki African Film Festival. Her writing includes her debut novel The Fall of Saints (2014) and contributing to anthologies such as New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (2019); and short stories in Akashic Books' Noir Series: Houston Noir (2019) and Nairobi Noir (2020). If her second novel Seasons in Hippoland (2021) is anything to go by, literary talent runs in families. (Her brother Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ is also a writer.)

Seasons in Hippoland begins with Mumbi as a sulky adolescent, sent to stay with her Aunt Sara because her parents are anxious about her rebellious behaviour. The irony is that both her parents and Aunt Sara were rebels themselves, but they were fighting for a political cause not for the right to party and smoke dope. Mumbi is furious about being banished to the countryside:
I thought of the friends I was leaving behind and my heart plummeted again. I wanted to be in their shoes, chasing each other on the streets or fighting over popcorn while they waited in line to watch the American super-stars whose names and life events bounced off our mouths like poetry. There was also the possibility of meeting Soul Dreamers, a Westville a cappella group we'd only so far seen on TV. My friends and I had divided up the members among ourselves. For marriage that is. We so desperately hoped to bump into them somewhere, and constantly wagered with each other as to who would be the lucky first to do so. My rural banishment would no doubt give them a huge advantage in this matter. (p.11)


To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/03/18/seasons-in-hippoland-2021-by-wanjiku-wa-ngug...… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
anzlitlovers | Mar 17, 2023 |
The Fall of Saints: A Novel par Wanjiku wa Ngugi
"I finished this book hoping (against hope) there'd be some sort of satisfying ending to what was really a morass of a novel. There's a bit of a feel that the author had a beginning and an end but struggled to create a middle."
read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.gr/2014/03/fall-of-saints-wanjiku-wangugi.html
½
 
Signalé
mongoosenamedt | 1 autre critique | Mar 13, 2014 |
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Statistiques

Œuvres
2
Aussi par
3
Membres
40
Popularité
#370,100
Évaluation
3.9
Critiques
3
ISBN
9