Before the Rooster Crows

by Peter Kimani

This is the story of Muriuki, a young man from a Kenyan village who leaves him home and back-breaking job on a coffee plantation for the city, to pursue wealth, and happiness with his childhood sweetheart Mumbi. But life is not straightforward for the young lovers who become steeped in the quagmire of Kenyan politics, and are confronted with the sophistication of a new world, its economic hardships and brutality, and the racism and persistent inequities of the post-colonial and global society. Then Mumbi is murdered on account of her activism and race, in lineage with so many of her country's historical and fictional female activists. Muriuki avenges her death in a controversial act which reverberates historically and throughout the society in which he lives. But then he experiences betrayal by his own people, which changes him irrevocably.

Genres: Africa

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

PETER KIMANI is a leading Kenyan journalist and author of, most recently, Dance of the Jakaranda, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. The novel was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in the US and long-listed for the inaugural Big Book Awards in the UK. He has taught at Amherst College and the University of Houston and is presently based at Aga Khan University’s Graduate School of Media and Communications. Nairobi Noir is his latest work.

Reviews

[Esbon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay