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Red Strangers
Epic in its scale, Red Strangers spans four generations of a Kikuyu family in Africa and their relationship with European settlers, nicknamed "red" strangers because of their sunburns. Huxley's engrossing portrait of a Kenyan tribe and their way of life, with its rituals, its beliefs, its codes and its morality, shows Europeans and their customs in stark, unflattering contrast with the Kikuyu. The differences in their attitudes to war, methods of cultivation, the administering of justice, and the use of money are played out in this novel of the damaging forces of colonization.
406 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1939
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About the author
Elspeth Huxley
72 books72 followersElspeth Joscelin Huxley was an English writer, journalist, broadcaster, magistrate, environmentalist, farmer, and government adviser. She wrote over 40 books, including her best-known lyrical books, The Flame Trees of Thika and The Mottled Lizard, based on her youth in a coffee farm in British Kenya. Her husband, Gervas Huxley, was a grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley and a cousin of Aldous Huxley.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 25, 2014
This book was on a "Top 5" recommendation by Richard Dawkins, noted atheist and author of "The God Delusion" He also wrote the Introduction to this. It was tough to find, evidently sent from Great Britain by Barnes and Noble as it only shows British and Canadian pricing. The first half of the book is told entirely of the perspective of African natives and their customs (including female circumcision and beliefs in magic and spirits). The second half deals with the arrival of the Europeans , the "Red Strangers" so called because of their sunburns, and the enormous changes which resulted. The story is still told from the African perspective - considering machines such as automobiles and trains as animals upon first exposure, for example, and attempting to understand such strange customs as not using goats as a medium of exchange and being limited to one wife by the strange Christian religion. I enjoyed the metaphors from the African perspective - Discovering the city of Nairobi had grown "swollen like a tick on the neck of a cow and the houses had grown upwards as quickly as eucalyptus trees." Or, "From the crowd arose a noise like the persistent chattering of flamingos by a lake." I can see the appeal to someone like Dawkins as even this book from 1939 shows the development of religion as a filling in of the details that man has trouble understanding. Interesting and thought provoking read. Reminded me a bit of "Hawaii" by Michener in terms of cultural impact by outsiders.
October 31, 2013
Red Strangers is the story of a Kikuyu village set at the time when the first European colonisers arrived in Kenya, and the changes that came with colonialism. In beautiful, exquisite prose Elspeth Huxley describes the ways of the Kikuyu, the pastures where young boys are herding the goats of their fathers, the sacred fig-trees whose roots grow down from heaven instead of up from earth, and the majestic peak of Kerinyagga (Mount Kenya).
High and remote, the peak floated in the clean air above them, guarded from the impudent feet of men by many spirits. Above, on the far white crest where no man could venture, was the seat of God. There he dwelt, sending rain or withholding it according to his pleasure. Sometimes, when he prepared to go on a journey, men could hear him cracking his joints with a noise of thunder; at such times they would not dare to look up into the sky, lest they should glimpse his majesty and perish.
The consideration that within a few years none will survive of those who remember the way of life that existed before the white man came was what led her to make the experiment of this book, wrote Huxley in her foreword. I'm so glad she did. This is a beautiful, beautiful book that deserves its place next to Karen Blixen's Out of Africa.
High and remote, the peak floated in the clean air above them, guarded from the impudent feet of men by many spirits. Above, on the far white crest where no man could venture, was the seat of God. There he dwelt, sending rain or withholding it according to his pleasure. Sometimes, when he prepared to go on a journey, men could hear him cracking his joints with a noise of thunder; at such times they would not dare to look up into the sky, lest they should glimpse his majesty and perish.
The consideration that within a few years none will survive of those who remember the way of life that existed before the white man came was what led her to make the experiment of this book, wrote Huxley in her foreword. I'm so glad she did. This is a beautiful, beautiful book that deserves its place next to Karen Blixen's Out of Africa.
February 5, 2014
I loved the fiction look into pre-colonial Kikuyu life. I especially loved the point of view from which the story is told- that of the Kikuyu, evident in the title of the book: Red Strangers. As opposed to the regular depictions of how strange pre-colonial Africa was to the European, Huxley shows just how strange, and utterly incomprehensible (dare I say, senseless), the Europeans and their ways were. It made me reconsider a lot of what today is taken for granted and as matter of fact in the way we run our worlds, especially the inherited colonial ways in which we run the worlds of African nations.
A passage I liked, that shows the idiocy of a prison system in dealing with wrongs, from pg 202:
"The affair of the young man's death is between Karue and my father Waseru. What has the stranger to do with it?"
"That is stranger's law. Matu killed, he evil man. Therefore he stays with stranger."
"Then what does Karue receive in compensation for his son, who is dead?"
"He not receive anything."
"Then the stranger gets something for Karue's loss, and Karue's clan gets nothing at all."
A passage I liked, that shows the idiocy of a prison system in dealing with wrongs, from pg 202:
"The affair of the young man's death is between Karue and my father Waseru. What has the stranger to do with it?"
"That is stranger's law. Matu killed, he evil man. Therefore he stays with stranger."
"Then what does Karue receive in compensation for his son, who is dead?"
"He not receive anything."
"Then the stranger gets something for Karue's loss, and Karue's clan gets nothing at all."
July 10, 2023
This book tells the story of a kikuyu clan, four generations, starting before the coming of Europeans, who destroyed their culture. Europeans' faces would get sunburned by the strong sun, therefore meriting the title red strangers.
The reader is immersed in the kikuyu culture so much that when the Europeans arrived, it's blatantly obvious that their ways are so clumsy and fair zero care for the land zero care for the kikuyu culture. The kikuyu use bartering for their exchanges of goods. When the Europeans first arrive and they are corralled into their money systems, the kikuyu throw away the coins they give them, so strange does it seem to them.
I didn't like many things of the kikuyu culture: young women's bodies were soon bent down by having to carry loads.
Girls were circumcised: their clitoris cut off and the surrounding Hood as well. It doesn't say in the book, but a full circumcision on a girl would be to cut off the inner and outer labia, as well.
Boys were circumcised too, after which they were considered men. But circumcising a penis does not affect having sex the way it does for a girl. This made me very angry.
Waseru and his wife have three children: two boys and one baby girl. The younger boy is sickly, and Waseru has done everything he can to try to rid the boy of the black magic affecting him. He knows it was done by his father-in-law, who never liked him because he considered him not rich enough nor good enough for his daughter.
He travels to his father-in-law's compound to beg him to take off the evil from his son:
"he waited two days, sitting silently on his stool in the sun or going with the young men who herded cattle, before Ndolia was ready to speak. All this time he looked respectfully at his feet when his father-in-law passed him, and turned his face away when one of Ndolia's wives approached. He was unhappy and apprehensive, for he felt dislike and contempt coming out of the minds of Ndolia's sons and nephews like the stench from a rotten corpse. And he was afraid, for sometimes it seems that he did indeed detect an evil smell in the village, such a smell as could only arise where sorcery was practiced."
And indeed, when Ndolia finally deems to speak with Waseru on the third day, he expresses his anger at Waseru for not having finished paying him the bride price. He refuses to take off the sorcery bewitching Matu.
Waseru's other son Muthengi is hot-headed and proud. He is jealous of the witch doctor's son Kabero, because the girls pay attention to him, and he is handsome. Muthengi wanted to have calf rattles, like the ones Kabero had. And indeed, he hits Kabero with a rock, and steals his rattles.
When Waseru is told the price for Muthengi's crime, he is angry and slaps him when Muthengi will not answer his questions:
" 'your silence has tongues,' Waseru said, his voice quivering with anger. 'I know now that you are a thief, and one who has drawn the blood of an Elder's son.'
He lifted his arm and slapped Muthengi twice across the face with an open Palm as hard as he was able. The blows sent the boy reeling, and as his shoulders hit the ground a red wave of anger surged over him like the bore of a river in spate. He leapt to his feet and shouted:
'yes, I am a thief, and how can I be otherwise, when my father denies me what all fathers give their sons? Kabero has rattles on his legs and finery when he goes to dances, while I have nothing - nothing! Now I am a grown man, as strong as a warrior, why am I not circumcised? Why do you treat me as if I were a boy like Matu, when I am man?' "
Waseru comes up with the price for not only Muthengi's crime, but also for his circumcision price. Here is an excerpt of the circumcision for the boys and girls:
"Muthengi's turn came quickly and by no sign did he betray the pain of the knife. But the boy after him was less brave. His face contorted as the knife slashed and a low whimper escaped his throat. A deep derisive groan came up from the crowd. One of the Warriors laughed loudly and called out an insult. He was silenced by a njama, and a cloak was thrown quickly over the boy's head. But no cloak could hide his humiliation, or protect him from the future ridicule of his fellows. He had publicly displayed cowardice and his shame would pursue him for the rest of his life.
At the same time an old woman operated upon the girls. The arms and legs of the candidates were pinned down by their sponsors so that they could not move, but they, like the boys, bore without flinching the pain that seared their nerves when the circumcisor, with a flick of the knife, amputated the clitoris and then, with two more slashes, the lips of Flesh on either side. A convulsive shiver passed through Ambui's [Waseru's stepdaughter] body when she felt the knife, but she did not cry out nor lose control of the muscles of her face. Blood spurted from the wound, and the woman circumcisor quickly plugged it with a small strip of greased leather. Then a crowd of chattering women gathered around to praise her loudly for her courage. Now they welcomed her unreservedly into Waseru's clan and she, a stranger, was no longer without kin."
With the coming of the Europeans comes the Calamity called smallpox. The kikuyu don't realize what it is, and think it is some black magic cast upon them, causing so many of their Clan to die.
The medicine man is consulted and a barbaric ritual is commenced. Warriors were sent to all the homes in the district telling every man, woman and child to catch a fly keep it in their hand and bring it to a designated place near the central market.
"... next morning people streamed toward the meeting place from every Ridge and valley, like red ants on the March before rain. They were gaunt and bony with long hunger and many dragged their legs painfully, stopping every few yards to gain breath. Each person held out a clenched fist, and in it buzzed a captive fly. They gathered in a great Ring Around Irumu, who awaited them under a sacred big tree with eight chosen elders and a boy holding a young Brown rwe.
Irumu slit open the ewe's belly, pegged back the flaps of skin, and rubbed several medicines into a hole made in the stomach. At his signal the circle around him broke and the people filed past, one by one, each person pausing to thrust his fly into the ewe's belly.
When the stomach was stuffed with all the living flies the flaps of skin were replaced and Irumu sewed them together with twine. The ewe was hoisted onto a young man's shoulder and the procession set off along a path leading toward Karuri's, in the direction from which the pestilence had come, until it reached a spring that bubbled up from under a moss-coated rock on the side of the hill. A deep hole was dug above it and there the young ewe, now a mere barrel of flies, was buried. In this way the pestilence driven by Magic into the bodies of flies, was trapped in the belly of the ewe and buried deep beneath the spring, under the sources of Life which flowed on above."
This pissed me off greatly and I hope these characters got poisoned by the murdered ewe rotting in the ground above the spring.
A generation passes, and we are getting towards the end of the book. Many Europeans have moved into the area, and many of the customs of the Kikuyu have gone by the wayside.
The Europeans are Christian and want to make the Kikuyu accept their god. The only good thing I can find from this is that the Europeans forbid the girls from getting circumcised. The Kikuyu are greatly against this, and even some of the girls, too.
There is a rabble Rouser who has taken the name Jehoshophat when he became Christian. He led a group commiting a crime against one of the European women, a teacher:
"[Karanja, who is Matu's son] he awoke late next morning, and while he was eating breakfast in the sunshine outside the Hut he saw a party of policeman hurry by. After he had Washed in the river he strolled up to the mission, chewing a stick of cane, to see if there was any news.
The place was in extreme confusion. European officers were there, and many people were standing about watching a house which was guarded by policeman with rifles. He was horrified to hear what had occurred. The European woman with gray hair had been murdered in the night. Several people had broken into her house and found her in bed. She had been crudely circumcised in the Kikuyu fashion where she lay, and later in the night she had died from the wounds. The culprits had not yet been caught."
In the foreword, the author relates how she found out so much information about the Kikuyu:
"although this is a novel, most of the incidents related are true. Part one has as its background the local history of a small area of East Africa, a section of what is now the South Nyeri District of the Kikuyu Reserve, located on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya at an elevation of about 7,500 ft. All the characters, without exception, are imaginary, but many of their Adventures occurred to real people who related them to me; and such events as smallpox outbreaks, famine and so on, are matters of historical record. The ceremonies and Customs describe are based in some cases on observation and in some on accounts given by elders, supplemented by such written sources as 'With a Prehistoric People' by Routledge, and notes kindly lent by Dr L. S. B. Leakey, whose authoritative work on the Kikuyu tribe is shortly to appear."
The reader is immersed in the kikuyu culture so much that when the Europeans arrived, it's blatantly obvious that their ways are so clumsy and fair zero care for the land zero care for the kikuyu culture. The kikuyu use bartering for their exchanges of goods. When the Europeans first arrive and they are corralled into their money systems, the kikuyu throw away the coins they give them, so strange does it seem to them.
I didn't like many things of the kikuyu culture: young women's bodies were soon bent down by having to carry loads.
Girls were circumcised: their clitoris cut off and the surrounding Hood as well. It doesn't say in the book, but a full circumcision on a girl would be to cut off the inner and outer labia, as well.
Boys were circumcised too, after which they were considered men. But circumcising a penis does not affect having sex the way it does for a girl. This made me very angry.
Waseru and his wife have three children: two boys and one baby girl. The younger boy is sickly, and Waseru has done everything he can to try to rid the boy of the black magic affecting him. He knows it was done by his father-in-law, who never liked him because he considered him not rich enough nor good enough for his daughter.
He travels to his father-in-law's compound to beg him to take off the evil from his son:
"he waited two days, sitting silently on his stool in the sun or going with the young men who herded cattle, before Ndolia was ready to speak. All this time he looked respectfully at his feet when his father-in-law passed him, and turned his face away when one of Ndolia's wives approached. He was unhappy and apprehensive, for he felt dislike and contempt coming out of the minds of Ndolia's sons and nephews like the stench from a rotten corpse. And he was afraid, for sometimes it seems that he did indeed detect an evil smell in the village, such a smell as could only arise where sorcery was practiced."
And indeed, when Ndolia finally deems to speak with Waseru on the third day, he expresses his anger at Waseru for not having finished paying him the bride price. He refuses to take off the sorcery bewitching Matu.
Waseru's other son Muthengi is hot-headed and proud. He is jealous of the witch doctor's son Kabero, because the girls pay attention to him, and he is handsome. Muthengi wanted to have calf rattles, like the ones Kabero had. And indeed, he hits Kabero with a rock, and steals his rattles.
When Waseru is told the price for Muthengi's crime, he is angry and slaps him when Muthengi will not answer his questions:
" 'your silence has tongues,' Waseru said, his voice quivering with anger. 'I know now that you are a thief, and one who has drawn the blood of an Elder's son.'
He lifted his arm and slapped Muthengi twice across the face with an open Palm as hard as he was able. The blows sent the boy reeling, and as his shoulders hit the ground a red wave of anger surged over him like the bore of a river in spate. He leapt to his feet and shouted:
'yes, I am a thief, and how can I be otherwise, when my father denies me what all fathers give their sons? Kabero has rattles on his legs and finery when he goes to dances, while I have nothing - nothing! Now I am a grown man, as strong as a warrior, why am I not circumcised? Why do you treat me as if I were a boy like Matu, when I am man?' "
Waseru comes up with the price for not only Muthengi's crime, but also for his circumcision price. Here is an excerpt of the circumcision for the boys and girls:
"Muthengi's turn came quickly and by no sign did he betray the pain of the knife. But the boy after him was less brave. His face contorted as the knife slashed and a low whimper escaped his throat. A deep derisive groan came up from the crowd. One of the Warriors laughed loudly and called out an insult. He was silenced by a njama, and a cloak was thrown quickly over the boy's head. But no cloak could hide his humiliation, or protect him from the future ridicule of his fellows. He had publicly displayed cowardice and his shame would pursue him for the rest of his life.
At the same time an old woman operated upon the girls. The arms and legs of the candidates were pinned down by their sponsors so that they could not move, but they, like the boys, bore without flinching the pain that seared their nerves when the circumcisor, with a flick of the knife, amputated the clitoris and then, with two more slashes, the lips of Flesh on either side. A convulsive shiver passed through Ambui's [Waseru's stepdaughter] body when she felt the knife, but she did not cry out nor lose control of the muscles of her face. Blood spurted from the wound, and the woman circumcisor quickly plugged it with a small strip of greased leather. Then a crowd of chattering women gathered around to praise her loudly for her courage. Now they welcomed her unreservedly into Waseru's clan and she, a stranger, was no longer without kin."
With the coming of the Europeans comes the Calamity called smallpox. The kikuyu don't realize what it is, and think it is some black magic cast upon them, causing so many of their Clan to die.
The medicine man is consulted and a barbaric ritual is commenced. Warriors were sent to all the homes in the district telling every man, woman and child to catch a fly keep it in their hand and bring it to a designated place near the central market.
"... next morning people streamed toward the meeting place from every Ridge and valley, like red ants on the March before rain. They were gaunt and bony with long hunger and many dragged their legs painfully, stopping every few yards to gain breath. Each person held out a clenched fist, and in it buzzed a captive fly. They gathered in a great Ring Around Irumu, who awaited them under a sacred big tree with eight chosen elders and a boy holding a young Brown rwe.
Irumu slit open the ewe's belly, pegged back the flaps of skin, and rubbed several medicines into a hole made in the stomach. At his signal the circle around him broke and the people filed past, one by one, each person pausing to thrust his fly into the ewe's belly.
When the stomach was stuffed with all the living flies the flaps of skin were replaced and Irumu sewed them together with twine. The ewe was hoisted onto a young man's shoulder and the procession set off along a path leading toward Karuri's, in the direction from which the pestilence had come, until it reached a spring that bubbled up from under a moss-coated rock on the side of the hill. A deep hole was dug above it and there the young ewe, now a mere barrel of flies, was buried. In this way the pestilence driven by Magic into the bodies of flies, was trapped in the belly of the ewe and buried deep beneath the spring, under the sources of Life which flowed on above."
This pissed me off greatly and I hope these characters got poisoned by the murdered ewe rotting in the ground above the spring.
A generation passes, and we are getting towards the end of the book. Many Europeans have moved into the area, and many of the customs of the Kikuyu have gone by the wayside.
The Europeans are Christian and want to make the Kikuyu accept their god. The only good thing I can find from this is that the Europeans forbid the girls from getting circumcised. The Kikuyu are greatly against this, and even some of the girls, too.
There is a rabble Rouser who has taken the name Jehoshophat when he became Christian. He led a group commiting a crime against one of the European women, a teacher:
"[Karanja, who is Matu's son] he awoke late next morning, and while he was eating breakfast in the sunshine outside the Hut he saw a party of policeman hurry by. After he had Washed in the river he strolled up to the mission, chewing a stick of cane, to see if there was any news.
The place was in extreme confusion. European officers were there, and many people were standing about watching a house which was guarded by policeman with rifles. He was horrified to hear what had occurred. The European woman with gray hair had been murdered in the night. Several people had broken into her house and found her in bed. She had been crudely circumcised in the Kikuyu fashion where she lay, and later in the night she had died from the wounds. The culprits had not yet been caught."
In the foreword, the author relates how she found out so much information about the Kikuyu:
"although this is a novel, most of the incidents related are true. Part one has as its background the local history of a small area of East Africa, a section of what is now the South Nyeri District of the Kikuyu Reserve, located on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya at an elevation of about 7,500 ft. All the characters, without exception, are imaginary, but many of their Adventures occurred to real people who related them to me; and such events as smallpox outbreaks, famine and so on, are matters of historical record. The ceremonies and Customs describe are based in some cases on observation and in some on accounts given by elders, supplemented by such written sources as 'With a Prehistoric People' by Routledge, and notes kindly lent by Dr L. S. B. Leakey, whose authoritative work on the Kikuyu tribe is shortly to appear."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2008
It's amazing the way you'll find yourself identifying with the most bizarre things. Huxley hurls us into a world so foreign and primitive that initially one can't help but chuckle at the practices we're witness to. But by immersing us in the culture so completely our affiliation with it grows to a point where, when the Europeans appear, their customs (our own for the most part) are the ones that seem ludicrous and counter to logic.
You'll be surprised at how stupid and cruel money will seem after reading this book.
If for no other reason check it out because of the glimpse it offers of a dying world and the revealing look at our own culture's arrogance towards practices it doesn't even try to understand.
You'll be surprised at how stupid and cruel money will seem after reading this book.
If for no other reason check it out because of the glimpse it offers of a dying world and the revealing look at our own culture's arrogance towards practices it doesn't even try to understand.
January 12, 2021
С "Red Strangers", Елспет Хъксли ни потапя в културата на етноса кикую от Кения, проследявайки живота на четири поколения (от 1890г. до 1937г.), преди и след контакта им с изгорели от слънцето чуждоземци, носещи вятъра на промяната (+ пандемии, войни и рецесии, които в книгата не се назовават с познатите нам имена, тъй като ги виждаме през очите на източноафриканците).
Излязла през 1939г., книгата дълги години е с изчерпан тираж, когато през 1998г., във "Файненшъл Таймс", се появява статия от Ричард Докинс, отправяща предизвикателство към издателските къщи, да върнат към живот прекрасния исторически роман на британската писателка. Още на следващата година, "Penguin Books" се отзовават и включват статията на Докинс като предговор към новото издание.
Излязла през 1939г., книгата дълги години е с изчерпан тираж, когато през 1998г., във "Файненшъл Таймс", се появява статия от Ричард Докинс, отправяща предизвикателство към издателските къщи, да върнат към живот прекрасния исторически роман на британската писателка. Още на следващата година, "Penguin Books" се отзовават и включват статията на Докинс като предговор към новото издание.
October 6, 2021
I found a Kenyan’s viewpoint of British style justice very telling. He was perplexed when they locked him up in a jail! The tribal way actually made more sense and allowed for reintegration into society. The tribal chief would decide who was telling the truth, and punishment involved fines that included giving goats to the offended party.
This book details the sharp demarcation that happened when the British imposed their justice system and culture on an unsuspecting people. Colonialists need to mind their own business and leave other cultures alone!
I highly recommend this book to all the defenders of colonialism, CI A coups, and other tyrants who like to impose their culture on others!
This book details the sharp demarcation that happened when the British imposed their justice system and culture on an unsuspecting people. Colonialists need to mind their own business and leave other cultures alone!
I highly recommend this book to all the defenders of colonialism, CI A coups, and other tyrants who like to impose their culture on others!
September 27, 2013
One of the best books for getting inside a different culture. We see the world from the viewpoint of early 20th century Kikuyu people and how their world rapidly changes due to the arrival of English settlers. The charcters are well developed and for the most part sympathetic. Kikuyu culture is contrasted favorably with that of the settlers. It is hard to believe that the book dates from 1939 less than 50 years after the colonisation of Kenya began.(I read the original edition). Huxley also wrote the wonderful "Flame Trees of Thika" about growing up in Kenya.
November 10, 2021
Just finished reading this book by Elsbeth Huxley written in the 1930's about Kenya and the tribe of the Kikuyu tribe. The first part of the book relates solely to the local and indigenous peoples of this land, and gives a deep insight into their community , their highly defined tribal laws and closely held customs , their wars and disputes, their beliefs and superstitions. Beautifully written and engaging. Then the 'Red Stranger'(the European who appears 'red faced') arrives and all is forever changed . What a fascinating insight into this period in the early 1900's and beyond - the author covers everything from laws imposed contradicting local systems; corruption within and without; the thrust of Christianity upon the locals; severe droughts (climate change in 1910!!) and destructive smallpox epidemics ( not unlike Covid). It is all there in this remarkable book. What a remarkable author and woman to see and tell so much almost eighty years ago and written without rancour just observations. Thoroughly recommend.
April 28, 2022
As historical fiction, this is an important record of the transition from first contact with the British, and early Kenyan life, spanning the First World War period, but stopping well short of independence. With the benefit of our modern eyes, the attempt to portray Kikuyu culture and thought, is no doubt
flawed. However, it still portrays the difficult transition of one culture, being consumed by another. Obviously well researched with assistance from the Leakeys’ work and other records of early Kikuyu practice, it will stand, I am sure, as a helpful historical piece. Elizabeth Huxley says she gleaned a lot of material directly from kikuyu elders.
I would be very grateful to hear from others in Kenya about their reactions.
At first a bit slow for my liking, it improved midway, and near the end I found it a page turner as the erosion of the old tribal customs and laws become more evident.
flawed. However, it still portrays the difficult transition of one culture, being consumed by another. Obviously well researched with assistance from the Leakeys’ work and other records of early Kikuyu practice, it will stand, I am sure, as a helpful historical piece. Elizabeth Huxley says she gleaned a lot of material directly from kikuyu elders.
I would be very grateful to hear from others in Kenya about their reactions.
At first a bit slow for my liking, it improved midway, and near the end I found it a page turner as the erosion of the old tribal customs and laws become more evident.
August 16, 2020
It’s funny that I picked up this book because I had been reading a lot of Sci-Fi and felt as though I should take a break. In a similar fashion to many Sci-Fi novels, this story is of a first contact situation and how that contact indelibly changes those involved. The author does an excellent job of immersing the reader in the lifestyle and customs of the Kikuyu people. The introduction of Europeans into their world is viewed through Kikuyu eyes and with only their interpretation of what the ‘Red Strangers’ motivations could possibly be. It is a fascinating world to experience with these men; one foot in the ‘past’ while another is stepping into a new and uncertain future.
May 16, 2019
Very interesting fictional account of the profound effects the first Europeans had on the culture and lifestyle of the Kikuyu people of Kenya. In the foreword, the author states that she wanted to write this book (in 1939) while there were still some people living who could remember the way of life before the white man came. I have read several of Huxley's autobiographical works about her life in Kenya and feel that she probably got a lot of this right.
October 6, 2017
Very interesting novel about four generations of a Kikuyu tribe, their customs, history, and relationship with the British colonialists. A good read to really explain the tribes life through interesting times.
March 11, 2025
An immersive and powerful story following a family of precolonial Kenyan villagers facing a changing world. Seeing the world through their eyes, and then seeing that understanding scattered to the wind, helps one appreciate the utter confusion and terror that comes from colonisation.
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September 2, 2019DNF. It just wasn't for me. Basically it's a white colonialist imagining what Africans thought when they first met white folk. I was bored out of my mind.
October 2, 2019
Could have been 200 pages shorter
July 6, 2023
An extraordinary novel about the clash of cultures as Europeans colonised east Africa. There are endless moments that provide food for thought.
July 4, 2024
This book is just marvelously beautiful. Elspeth sure does have a way with words through language, highly recommended!
April 8, 2023
Set in Kenya, this novel reads like anthropology, tracing the personal history of three generations of the Kikuyu people. You see all the details of daily life, customs, and decision-making as they transition from independent and self-sufficient culture ruled by magic and elders to colonized people ruled by "strangers" and the young. Some of the changes in perspective are so subtle, but from grandfather to grandson there is a huge gap in what is desireable or acceptable. As the book went on and I read, guns and motorcars became more powerful than magical charms and small pieces of metal (money) more valuable than goats; safety from war with the Masai is bought through danger of slavery and jail; and stronger women's rights were bought through the general political disempowerment of the Kikuyu people. And, damn, I felt myself understanding the deep logical inconsistencies between these 2 belief systems in new ways. It makes me wonder if cultures with such different worldviews ever connect without huge sacrifices on one of the sides.
September 18, 2013
I simply loved this book. I have never read anything else that evokes the essence of a totally different culture quite so well. And on a more detailed level I loved trying to guess the identity of everyday Western objects from the Kikuyu descriptions. Such a fascinating insight into the realities and effects of colonialism. I am definitely seeking out Huxley's other books now. Well done Richard Dawkins for getting this book back into print.
December 4, 2016
This is a story of how the lives of a people (the Kikuyu) change with the arrival of British. The white man under his burden of "civilising" the "savages" imposes upon the beliefs and customs of the locals.
The story transcends geopgraphy in terms of relevance because colonialists, wherever they ruled, left the local people with similar experiences. In that sense, this is as much a story of the Indian sub-continent as it is of a tribe in Africa.
The story transcends geopgraphy in terms of relevance because colonialists, wherever they ruled, left the local people with similar experiences. In that sense, this is as much a story of the Indian sub-continent as it is of a tribe in Africa.
September 22, 2009
I went on an African kick a while ago and read lots of curious and beautiful books about the "dark continent". This was among the better of these, and provides compelling insight into a very different way of life than most of us lead.
August 8, 2015
I read and loved The Flame Trees of Thika and its sequel years ago. It was only recently that I discovered this novel by Huxley, and it was like a visit from an old friend. Beautifully written, great characterization, an all-around good read.
November 7, 2010
This book gets into the mind of the Kenyans who watched the British come, and is excellent for understanding African culture.
November 20, 2014
Richard Dawkins recommended this in an article in The Believer (Sep 08)
April 1, 2013
Refreshingly different. A story about the forced colonisation of Kenya seen from two young Kenyans' (sometimes very funny) POV. Up close, nobody is sane... above all, the Red Strangers.
November 18, 2013
A flawless illustration of beauty.
June 11, 2015
This is the epic story of 4 generations of family living in Kenya & the destructive forces of colonization.
Another great true story of Elspeth Huxley's life in Africa.
Another great true story of Elspeth Huxley's life in Africa.
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