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The Promised Land
A young farmer and his wife who have migrated to Tanzania from Kenya become embroiled in issues of personal jealousy and materialism, and a melodramatic tale of tribal hatreds ensues. The novel explores Ogot's concept of the ideal African wife: obedient and submissive to her husband; family and community orientated; and committed to non-materialist goals. The style is distinctively ironic giving the story power and relevance. Grace Ogot has been employed in diverse occupations as a novelist, short story writer, scriptwriter, politician, and representative to the UN. Some of her other works include The Island of Tears (1980), the short story collection Land Without Thunder (1988), The Strange Bride (1989) and The Other Woman (1992). The Promised Land was originally published in 1966, and has since been reprinted five times.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
17 people are currently reading
773 people want to read
About the author
Grace Ogot
28 books37 followersGrace Ogot (May 15, 1930 – March 18, 2015) was a Kenyan author, nurse, journalist, politician and diplomat. Together with Charity Waciuma she is the first Anglophone female Kenyan writer to be published.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 16, 2012
A friend of mine who lives in Kenya got me this book. It hit me deeply how can Kenya and Egypt be so similar regarding family ties and traditions, and how local traditions are sometimes considered part of religion, sometimes even overwhelming it. Whenever you read the first chapter you won't leave it till the end.
I give this book 5/5, I really enjoyed it, and it gave me an idea why Egypt should be explicitly back to her African roots.
I give this book 5/5, I really enjoyed it, and it gave me an idea why Egypt should be explicitly back to her African roots.
October 26, 2021
one of Kenya's early writers who beautifully and maturely captures the difficulty of migration, marriage, otherness, home, tribalism, being the supportive wife in a conservative and traditional society and African context where, as women, we are told to stay and to support the man. as women, society always asks of us to sacrifice more, for the sake of the man, marriage or children. Ogot emphatically takes us through the journey of homecoming.
December 13, 2025
read this book in high school. it was great
November 21, 2025
4.25/5
wow. what a stunningly harrowing read. in 200 pages a really mesmerising contemplation of the intermeshing of tradition vs. modernity, otherness, homeland, migration, patriarchal society, maternity, tribalism, materialism, wealth creation, community, poverty, duty and so much more. also a lot of privilege is given to the importance of land, connection to earth with beautiful imagery. read this for kenya in my reading around the world and sooooo glad i did. really duplicitously simple.
there's so much complexity in how ogot depicts nyapol. she privileges nyapol as a woman whose instincts and warnings against greed for wealth, as a distinct voice of reason contradict ochola's and is held back by a patriarchal society. additionally, the love between nyapol and ochola is consistently shown. she also inhibits the archetype of what a "submissive, serving, obedient" wife is and they all kind of suffer for ochola's stubborness to disregard his male hubris and listen to her and go back to seme. i learnt a lot here about topics that i haven't read about before in african literature. there's a lot here on pre-independence, the conflict of luo settlers from kenya in tanganyika (now known as tanzinia), on medicine men, the individualism of 'white men', the fallacies of 'white men wisdom'. there's also a good amount in here of grief and motherhood, both ochar and his brother's constant hallucinations and yearning for their mother's guidance, appreciation for chila was greatly evocative. the heavy involvement of magical realism and the supernatural towards the end was really well done and the images were really gorgeously spooky.
the only negatives for me with this was that the ending was abrupt and weakened the impact of the story. also i personally am not religious and also don't fully understand all of the religious symbolism/conflict underpinning what the white doctor was talking about in the hospital.
i really really wish i was smarter and more informed about kenyan literature and history so that i could fully understand the nuance of all of the themes and plot points in this but even from my limited knowledge there's SO much in here that's expressed really adeptly and beautifully through a deceivingly simple plot.
need to read more of grace ogot, largely considered the "mother of kenyan literature"['s] work because boy was it refreshing, gorgeous and affecting. more people should have access to this and read it!
quotes i loved:
- So they went, one man from each home. It was a day like this, the sun was hot. The fields were red with millet. But they never came back. The white man's battle swallowed them up. The Kipande they had carried was returned - but they remained. They remained in the land whether there was no sunshine nor the warmth of a woman nor the cry of a child. Sleep on, sons of the soul. Sleep on. You were taken from us young and strong. You were too young to sleep. The earth had no shame to have swallowed your souls. And to hide you from the warmth of the sun. Weep with me you fathers. Weep with me you, whose brothers sleep. Weep with me, mother, weep with me, mothers Who long for the warmth of a man. My clansmen have slept. My brothers are no more. The sun is warm. The fields are red with millet. The brides are ripe for marriage. But you see them no more. Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep in the land of the white man...'.
- "Why had God been sleeping for so long? When he created this land, he must have had a better purpose for it. He must have said that this land, like the land of Canaan, would flow with milk and honey so that its inhabitants could have plenty to eat and drink and live a better life....The land that stretched before Ochola was a tired land which had nourished maize and millet crops since time immemorial. The exhausted soil had no rest from the wretched little hoes that scratched its surface only to make it easier for the floods to sweep up the good soil. Ochola caught Nyapol's eyes on him and he bent to his hoe again. Perhaps God was not sleeping, but was merely watching the widdom of man. He made the land, yes, but He had given it to man. If a man was a fool, he would toil foolishly, reaping but little each year until he, man, according to God's word, returned to dust.
- Nyapol had spat on the floor and told him, "There's nothing to be proud of, leaving your inheritance to go and live as a refugee amonst strangers. The Umuri people left their land and came to live in your land and now you won't even recognise them. You call them names and you look down on them. Why? Because they are foreigners who know quite well that they have no right to our land. Their fathers didn't conquer it like our fathers did. It's time you swallowed your pride and accepted the fact that you're a lost man."
- "How could anyone think of leaving this land? Our ancestors died fighting for this land. The Nandi lived in these valleys and on these hills and they drank from the river below. The land was fertile but the Nandi did not cultivate the land - they were herdsmen. Our grandfathers declared war on them because they did not know the value of land - they grew no crops or vegetables. The battle raged for two full market days, and afterwards many warriors were never even buried. They were drowned by the angry river in the depth of the lake. The Nandi were driven away to the mountains."
- Within a short time Nyapol realised that you could not take your time going on to a white man's boat. You had to rush on board or you were left behind and the boat sailed away without you.
- You know the fate of the strangers who live amongst us here? They have no voice in the running of our land. They're lonely because they're not accepted by our people. Is this what you want? You who are descended from a distinguished clan? All your grandfathers were warriors. They died fighting for this land. Why go away and be destitute, leaving your inheritance here?"
- "You are my eldest son - this land is yours. Our fathers died fighting for this land so that you might inherit it. It is more precious because your grandfathers bought it with their own blood. Why go to a strange country to buy land? I'll soon lie in my grave. The land we have is more than enough for you, my son...If you go away, who will bury me when i die?"
- "Riches! I don't desire riches! I'm rich as I am! I live on our own land! But what I need most is your company. Don't deprive me of that my son, don't deprive me of that!"
- "Of course it's important to care about home ties, to want to live and to die in the land of your forefathers, but as the world is changing so much, wealth and comfort is becoming more and more desirable."
wow. what a stunningly harrowing read. in 200 pages a really mesmerising contemplation of the intermeshing of tradition vs. modernity, otherness, homeland, migration, patriarchal society, maternity, tribalism, materialism, wealth creation, community, poverty, duty and so much more. also a lot of privilege is given to the importance of land, connection to earth with beautiful imagery. read this for kenya in my reading around the world and sooooo glad i did. really duplicitously simple.
there's so much complexity in how ogot depicts nyapol. she privileges nyapol as a woman whose instincts and warnings against greed for wealth, as a distinct voice of reason contradict ochola's and is held back by a patriarchal society. additionally, the love between nyapol and ochola is consistently shown. she also inhibits the archetype of what a "submissive, serving, obedient" wife is and they all kind of suffer for ochola's stubborness to disregard his male hubris and listen to her and go back to seme. i learnt a lot here about topics that i haven't read about before in african literature. there's a lot here on pre-independence, the conflict of luo settlers from kenya in tanganyika (now known as tanzinia), on medicine men, the individualism of 'white men', the fallacies of 'white men wisdom'. there's also a good amount in here of grief and motherhood, both ochar and his brother's constant hallucinations and yearning for their mother's guidance, appreciation for chila was greatly evocative. the heavy involvement of magical realism and the supernatural towards the end was really well done and the images were really gorgeously spooky.
the only negatives for me with this was that the ending was abrupt and weakened the impact of the story. also i personally am not religious and also don't fully understand all of the religious symbolism/conflict underpinning what the white doctor was talking about in the hospital.
i really really wish i was smarter and more informed about kenyan literature and history so that i could fully understand the nuance of all of the themes and plot points in this but even from my limited knowledge there's SO much in here that's expressed really adeptly and beautifully through a deceivingly simple plot.
need to read more of grace ogot, largely considered the "mother of kenyan literature"['s] work because boy was it refreshing, gorgeous and affecting. more people should have access to this and read it!
quotes i loved:
- So they went, one man from each home. It was a day like this, the sun was hot. The fields were red with millet. But they never came back. The white man's battle swallowed them up. The Kipande they had carried was returned - but they remained. They remained in the land whether there was no sunshine nor the warmth of a woman nor the cry of a child. Sleep on, sons of the soul. Sleep on. You were taken from us young and strong. You were too young to sleep. The earth had no shame to have swallowed your souls. And to hide you from the warmth of the sun. Weep with me you fathers. Weep with me you, whose brothers sleep. Weep with me, mother, weep with me, mothers Who long for the warmth of a man. My clansmen have slept. My brothers are no more. The sun is warm. The fields are red with millet. The brides are ripe for marriage. But you see them no more. Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep in the land of the white man...'.
- "Why had God been sleeping for so long? When he created this land, he must have had a better purpose for it. He must have said that this land, like the land of Canaan, would flow with milk and honey so that its inhabitants could have plenty to eat and drink and live a better life....The land that stretched before Ochola was a tired land which had nourished maize and millet crops since time immemorial. The exhausted soil had no rest from the wretched little hoes that scratched its surface only to make it easier for the floods to sweep up the good soil. Ochola caught Nyapol's eyes on him and he bent to his hoe again. Perhaps God was not sleeping, but was merely watching the widdom of man. He made the land, yes, but He had given it to man. If a man was a fool, he would toil foolishly, reaping but little each year until he, man, according to God's word, returned to dust.
- Nyapol had spat on the floor and told him, "There's nothing to be proud of, leaving your inheritance to go and live as a refugee amonst strangers. The Umuri people left their land and came to live in your land and now you won't even recognise them. You call them names and you look down on them. Why? Because they are foreigners who know quite well that they have no right to our land. Their fathers didn't conquer it like our fathers did. It's time you swallowed your pride and accepted the fact that you're a lost man."
- "How could anyone think of leaving this land? Our ancestors died fighting for this land. The Nandi lived in these valleys and on these hills and they drank from the river below. The land was fertile but the Nandi did not cultivate the land - they were herdsmen. Our grandfathers declared war on them because they did not know the value of land - they grew no crops or vegetables. The battle raged for two full market days, and afterwards many warriors were never even buried. They were drowned by the angry river in the depth of the lake. The Nandi were driven away to the mountains."
- Within a short time Nyapol realised that you could not take your time going on to a white man's boat. You had to rush on board or you were left behind and the boat sailed away without you.
- You know the fate of the strangers who live amongst us here? They have no voice in the running of our land. They're lonely because they're not accepted by our people. Is this what you want? You who are descended from a distinguished clan? All your grandfathers were warriors. They died fighting for this land. Why go away and be destitute, leaving your inheritance here?"
- "You are my eldest son - this land is yours. Our fathers died fighting for this land so that you might inherit it. It is more precious because your grandfathers bought it with their own blood. Why go to a strange country to buy land? I'll soon lie in my grave. The land we have is more than enough for you, my son...If you go away, who will bury me when i die?"
- "Riches! I don't desire riches! I'm rich as I am! I live on our own land! But what I need most is your company. Don't deprive me of that my son, don't deprive me of that!"
- "Of course it's important to care about home ties, to want to live and to die in the land of your forefathers, but as the world is changing so much, wealth and comfort is becoming more and more desirable."
October 11, 2020
Nyapol - the perfect African wife - goes with her husband from their native Nyanza (Kenya) across Lake Victoria to settle in the fruitful Tanganyika (Tanzania) - and they prosper and get rich to the displeasure of the neighbouring medicine man. It will not end well, and neither money nor white man's medicine is of any use.
March 8, 2022
I rather liked it, esp the last quarter, which got into witchcraft/magical realism. Strangely it somewhat reminded me of the writing of Marjorie Kinan Rawlings in books like Cross Creek and South Moon Under.
June 6, 2012
The plot is quite simple but it remains a powerful story.
June 6, 2025
What a classic.
This is a book about marriage, pioneering, wealth creation, community, tension between Africans and European culture/medicine in the colonial times. I have luo friends in Tanzania, so it was interesting to read about how their people pioneered settlement there from Kenya and the challenges they faced.
I gave it 4 stars because while I found the characters well developed (Nyapol especially), and Oketch and Atiga my favorites, the ending left a lot of questions. For instance, I think Maguga was a fraud who probably took Ochola’s wealth, the old man should have gotten what was coming to him, and the christian doctor and his wife’s story was left hanging.
A worthy addition to African literature.
This is a book about marriage, pioneering, wealth creation, community, tension between Africans and European culture/medicine in the colonial times. I have luo friends in Tanzania, so it was interesting to read about how their people pioneered settlement there from Kenya and the challenges they faced.
I gave it 4 stars because while I found the characters well developed (Nyapol especially), and Oketch and Atiga my favorites, the ending left a lot of questions. For instance, I think Maguga was a fraud who probably took Ochola’s wealth, the old man should have gotten what was coming to him, and the christian doctor and his wife’s story was left hanging.
A worthy addition to African literature.
December 20, 2025
Beautifully written.
So they went, one man from each home.
It was a day like this, the sun was hot.
The fields were red with millet.
But they never came back.
The white man's battle swallowed them up.
Not a peaceful quietness, a kind of terror: a panic that grips a drowning man whose salvation is snatched away by a powerful wave.
So they went, one man from each home.
It was a day like this, the sun was hot.
The fields were red with millet.
But they never came back.
The white man's battle swallowed them up.
Not a peaceful quietness, a kind of terror: a panic that grips a drowning man whose salvation is snatched away by a powerful wave.
March 5, 2019
Nice and short read set in the traditional rural west of Kenya and Tanganyika before independence. Tragic story of rural migrants and tensions with between them and the original population. The book gives insights in local customs and beliefs and is beautifully written.
March 8, 2016
It was a great read. I really felt in touch with the characters and interacted with them the end was a bit abrupt though.
November 25, 2024
classic!!!!
March 3, 2026
Intense and disturbing. Preindependence east Africa. A young husband and his new wife immigrate to a new land. They have never before traveled away from their families. The husband views education as a negative. The wife resolves to be the traditional wife. The husband sees his role as decision maker, often failing to listen. Diffiuclties in communication between the couple are evident from the start. When disaster strikes they are unequiped.
Theirs is a culture that really challenges me. The white doctor was portrayed surprisingly positively, and I am sure I would not have responded as respectivefully as he did. The belief in supernatural powers rather than science kept me discouraged. Failure to be flexible, to think outside the box, to disregard loving advice, and to adhere to the old ways in a new land describe so much of human experience. The story evoked my compassion for people who are trying to do the best they can, even when their beliefs are different from mine.
Theirs is a culture that really challenges me. The white doctor was portrayed surprisingly positively, and I am sure I would not have responded as respectivefully as he did. The belief in supernatural powers rather than science kept me discouraged. Failure to be flexible, to think outside the box, to disregard loving advice, and to adhere to the old ways in a new land describe so much of human experience. The story evoked my compassion for people who are trying to do the best they can, even when their beliefs are different from mine.
July 23, 2024
a wonderfully easy historical fiction read centering on the themes of family/community, grief, fear, cultural and religious change, and resettlement. i especially enjoyed that the story felt very parable-like (especially reminded me of the parable of the rich young ruler). i wish the ending had a little more time and clarity and that the author would examine gender and motherhood more, but i would strongly recommend.
August 16, 2025
A classic!
This is a story for all those going to a foreign country. From the book, it is good to accustom yourself to the new environment. People are different and might view your coming as not good for them. I loved the magic bit and how spiritualism is still at play in most African societies.
A great book!
This is a story for all those going to a foreign country. From the book, it is good to accustom yourself to the new environment. People are different and might view your coming as not good for them. I loved the magic bit and how spiritualism is still at play in most African societies.
A great book!
May 14, 2019
the best
April 18, 2020
The ending of the book leaves a lot of questions in my mind. For example, what happened to Nyilaji?
January 10, 2015
Powerful book. The suspense is there from the beginning - the trauma of re-settling in a strange place and how you will be perceived by the inhabitants, eventually turns into a nightmare.
Grace Ogot is one of my favorite Kenyan writers.
Grace Ogot is one of my favorite Kenyan writers.
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March 19, 2015good
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September 23, 2016I found the wife, Nypol, an especially well-drawn character.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews