The Havoc of Choice

by Wanjiru Koinange

2007, Kenya

Long held captive by her father’s shadow of corruption, Kavata has spent her life suffocated by political machinations. When her husband decides to run in the next election, these shadows threaten to consume her home. Unable to bear this darkness,
Kavata plots to escape.

As her family falls apart, so too does her country. In the wake of Kenya’s post-election turmoil, Kavata and her family must find their way back to each other across a landscape of wide-spread confusion, desperation, and heartrending loss.

Koinange explores the long reaching effects of colonisation and corruption within the context of a singular household and the disparate experiences of class and clan they encapsulate.

Genres: Africa, Kenya, Fiction, African Literature, Historical Fiction, Politics, Contemporary

376 pages, Paperback

Published November 28, 2019

Reviews

[Soila Kenya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very Kenyan book in the best and worst ways possible. I read this in just 3 days even in the midst of being very busy. Wanjiru Koinange has a gift.

[Wamuyu Thoithi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting plot and wonderful writing peppered with Kenyanisms. Koinange explores corruption, politics and family “domes” as she takes us back to the 2007/2008 post-election violence Kenya suffered. The last 25% of the book had me in tears as I relived my recollection of the events of that time. While I wasn’t directly affected, I know people that were and I do not believe that Kenyans have ever dealt with, or healed from that.

[Vincent Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

When my book club voted for THE HAVOC OF CHOICE by Kenyan author, Wanjiru Koinange (I also voted for it because I did research all the books suggested), I was happy to see a new breed of Kenyan authors published by Simon & Schuster (I must say, I wanted a few tips on how to get there). And then I started reading it: it was intriguing at first, but as I went on, it became a HAVOC OF WRITING. Don't get me wrong, the story is nice, about the 2007/8 Post-Election Violence in Kenya, but the plot is haphazard. I gave it two stars because I just wanted to be nice to a fellow Kenyan writer, but a one-star rating is what it deserves because of grammar, punctuation, and syntax errors; lack of proper research; and tautology. Here is my case (like the wannabe lawyer I am):

Grammar, punctuation, and syntax errors:

Pg. 22 - '... shrugged her shoulders.' (tautology); what else could she shrug, her legs?
Pg. 48 - '... while he was sat in his study ..." shouldn't it be '... while he sat in his study ...'?
Pg. 74 - son in law (not hyphenating a compound word)
Pg. 82 - ' ... its way too late for that!' shouldn't it be ' ... it's way too late for that!'?
Pgs. 94, 112, 124, 135, 147, 153, 161, 207, 263, 290, 304, 325, etc. (you'll have to get the book yourself if you have the courage to muddle through it).

Not well researched, especially locations. The protagonist, Kavata, gets back to Kenya, after running away, through Uganda because JKIA is shut down due to the PEV. She then boards a bus through BUSIA border, but ends up in Webuye. There is no way Busia border could lead you to Webuye within the short time in the book, because the bus is stopped only once at a police roadblock near Webuye, meaning there was no police before Bungoma, which is a larger town than Webuye? The nearest border town would be MALABA.

Kavata boards the train in Webuye, via ELDORET, and the train stops in NAKURU. When after 4 hours they have not yet moved on, she asks one of the passengers where the highway is. He points with his mouth, "Just there". The writer tells us that just there turns to be 8kms. How now? In Nakuru, there are two train stations: one is in town, about 200m and the other, a cargo station, less than a kilometer from the highway, and you would see the highway from the train. Kavata alights from the train with Cheptoo, they walk the 8kms to the highway, which magically turns to be Thika - Nairobi Highway. How now? From Nakuru to Thika - Nairobi Highway on foot, which translates to 8kms?

Even if it's pushing fiction to the limits, some factual checks like these should not be overlooked. Even the railway line cannot, unless constructed anew, link from NAKURU to THIKA.

Sidebar: I think Wanjiru Koinange is one of those elitist or upper middle class people who have no touch with their home country; they have hopped from continent to continent to bamboozle the reader with their overseas travel, but have got no idea of their backyard.

Other factual infelicities:

1. The writer wants us to believe that police officers in Kenya are trained at the National Youth Service. Seriously? Yes, NYS graduates may become police officers, but the training is at the Kenya Police Training College - Kiganjo.

To make matters worse, the character who is talking of being trained at the NYS, now a police officer (KIPROP), says he was also in the army. And he is 21 years old? Seriously? Do the math: Assumimg this guy went to the army first, at 18 years old, take six months for training. It's unlikely he was deployed to protect the borders immediately on graduation, so say he was 19 when he was deployed to the border, where he didn't last for two weeks. (How did he leave the army? When? Did he desert or did he resign? ...) When did he join the National Youth Service? Would he be accepted having being in the army? NYS training is six months, assuming he finished the training at 20 years, how long did he stay at NYS before going to Kenya Police Training College?

This hopping from one security service (army) to another (police) is not a Kenyan thing. Too much of American thrillers/movies (which I doubt are a true depiction of what happens) where police officers are always former military service personnel.

2. Time setting where she talks of the Kenya Defence Forces in 2007/8. The name Kenya Defence Forces came to be after the promulgation of the new constitution in 2010. In 2007, it was the Kenya Armed Forces.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first chapter of this book had me hooked. The prose was really good and kept me reading all thru, at 72% I almost didn’t sleep since I needed to know how it would end.

I felt transported back to 2007 just before elections and immediately after vividly. Queueing in supermarkets for supplies, running from police with teargas. The fear and horror of what was happening, not knowing if all your relatives were ok. Wanjiru was able to capture diverse feelings of different people. I need to discuss this book....

The book goes thru the horrors of that election thru the family of the Ngugi’s together with their staff and families. She manages to weave both what a majority and a few minority must have felt at that time. It’s a well told story that will make both Kenyans (we have a short memory) and non Kenyans want to google to know who is being inferred to by the various characters.

I loved the choice of title “havoc of choice” all our choices can sometimes lead us to a place where we blame ourselves for the havoc that’s running amok in our lives. If we could see a week into the what our choices could lead to, would we make different choices? Esp in moments that are crucibles in our lives.

4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Murugi Munyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book. I don’t know what my expectations were going into reading this… but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that I have endured for the past four days. Despite the fact that I was in Kenya and lived through this experience, it was so eye-opening to see it from the perspective of different tribal lenses and locations as well. It has also been interesting to relive this experience as an adult woman, and mother unlike the teenager I was when all this happened. In my memory, it really wasn’t this bad 🥹 what a tragic piece of history.

I appreciated the epilogue DEEPLY.

[D.od · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s very rare for me to be so enamored by a book. I really could not put it down and even woke up early sometimes just to read a chapter or two. I’m ecstatic that a Kenyan book by a Kenyan woman has me feeling this way because usually it’s a lot of western/other African reads that capture my attention like that.

Wanjiru is a gifted writer and so gifted that she brought me to tears with her debut novel. If you haven’t read it yet, please do, it’s a beautiful and yet heart wrenching story of a part of Kenya’s history we will never forget.

[Mwongeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the story. As a fan of historical fiction, this is the kind of thing I enjoy reading. However, the grammatical errors were a bit much and I had to stop every time I spotted one because it was so disappointing.

[Nyawira Mugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was a miss for me. For one who was around during the PEV, the facts shared are haphazard. The research herein did not suffice,

[George Ciuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. But too village like. Maybe those from Africa can relate. I didn't connect.

[Wangu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book! It’s very well written, relatable and for me quite emotional. It highlights the Kenyan political and tribal environment. The characters were brought out so well and I appreciated the Epilogue in the last chapter as we were not left hanging wondering what happened to each character.

Would 100% recommend it!

[Nkatha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book and it felt like I had been punched. When you live through an event, it's easy to hide away from parts of it and try and forget but this book felt like the emotional equivalent of my face being held in the dirt of what happened in 2007 with a voice screaming "look, you coward, look at it dammit." Kenya, man. I cannot even.

[Wamboi Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly heartbreaking. Kenyans sadly know that this isn’t entirely fiction. It's sad to go back to the events of the 2007-2008 post election violence, which is where the story takes us. Aside from the heaviness of it, the family's stories are impeccably woven together. This is one of those books you must simply make the time for! Page turner, deep and fast paced.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The characters were so diverse and all had that pivotal point when they knew their lives were never going to be the same.
I especially liked the honest look into the different classes of Kenyans and what it means to be in said classes. How you have to open your eyes and accept differences instead of claiming that you’re family or the same because you’re Kenyan...It’s sad that this book didn’t feel fictional at all, just a retelling of what happened in 2007 and a very well retelling no doubt. My heart ached for the innocent and for the lack of justice.

[Suzanne Majani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read 4 Kenyan books this year and this one was the best I’ve read by far! It brought out one of the most uncomfortable parts of Kenyan history, how Kenyan politics is structured and the glaring divide between the rich and the poor with such relativity yet such ease that made for quite the page turner.

[Ashley Muthaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in less than week. So good I couldn’t keep it down. An emotional journey that reminds us that choices have consequences.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book broke my heart! I shed tears and even cried after the last page😭
It hit close to home and I can’t recommend this book enough! Thank you Wanjiru for this❤️

[Jaylene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely take the time to write reviews but The Havoc of Choice is more than deserving of one. A moving tale of the interpersonal impacts of corruption within the Kenyan political system; the book explores class, tribalism and the subtle layers that make up Kenyan society in a brilliant, engaging way. I couldn’t put it down. The author’s ability to depict real, overarching societal issues through the lens of one family and their counterparts is extremely compelling, and the class commentary weaved in throughout creates an abundance of space for thought and reflection. Very glad to have stumbled across this one.

[Morayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is incredibly heart wrenching and aptly named. I had never heard of the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis till I read this.
It was just so incredibly sad all round
Thuo being in prison stressed me out so much. My heart broke for Schola so much. Hon Muli did not suffer enough and is that not reminiscent of real life.

[Edna Keng'ara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Fast paced.
I love how we were able to view the post election Violence in Kenya '07 through different people and tribes and how it impacted their lives in general.

The Epilogue though wasn't necessary.

[David Kenvyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not many people will be aware of the 2007 elections in Kenya. There are good reasons for this. They happened at the end of the year in which the collapse of the Freddy and Fanny mortgaging banks in the USA caused a crisis in international banking which is reverberating to this day. The elections also took place around Christmas 2007. For both these reasons, the elections were barely reported in the international media.
The third reason is that the elections themselves were not that controversial. It was only when it came to the counting of the ballots and the declaration of the results that the country descended into violence and chaos. Thousands were killed in the inter-party clashes that followed. Even more became refugees in their own country.
This is the story of those elections told through the choices made by a fictional family. Kavata is the daughter of the Hon. Muli, a leading and extremely corrupt politician in the ruling party. Kavata is married to Ngugi, who was a passionate leader in student politics, but who has not been able to get employment as an architect for several years. Ngugi decides to stand as a candidate for the ruling party in the Parliamentary seat that Muli is vacating, to go into retirement. This is the first choice that causes havoc. Kavata is appalled by what Ngugi has done. She decides to leave Kenya. She does not tell anyone this. She instructs the chauffeur to drive her to the airport and gets on a plane to Atlanta. She does not contact her husband, who is distraught, and who reports her as missing to the police. The police arrest the chauffeur, who obeys his instructions from Kavata and does not tell them that he took her to the airport. This is the third choice. All of them cause havoc.
These choices are like stones thrown into a pond. There are ripples that spread and involve more and more people. People are killed as a direct result of these decisions. Of course, these individual decisions are an analogy for the wider political and social decisions that were taken in Kenya and worldwide at the time. If corrupt politicians did not syphon off state funds on the grounds that “it is their turn to eat” the situation described in the book would not have come into being. I used to argue that African politicians did not have the skills in corruption that we have in the UK. We have a hereditary head of state. We allow people to buy educational privilege for their children (mainly, their sons). We choose our cabinet from the students at two or three public schools and two universities. No-one bats an eyelid at this. Our situation now, however, is very much like Kenya under President Arap Moi. Contracts are awarded to friends of ministers without going out to tender. We even had a sea-ferry contract awarded to a company that had no ferries. We are in no position to lecture Africa about corruption.
This book should be a lesson to us. It is a warning about what can happen, if we do not stop the rot now. It is fiction. The characters are not real. But sometimes reading a novel is the only way to gain empathy and an understanding of the threat that we are facing.

[Sherriz Mideva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captures the Kenyan post election violence from all viewpoints. So beautifully written. Loved Wanja and her story line being so young and resilient. The tragedy that befell the family truly heartbreaking. A book everyone should read.

[Lynn Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll need time to process it. This was difficult. Also, I'd recommend this book to every single Kenyan because we all need to learn from our past mistakes especially with the upcoming elections.

[Sherleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Kenyan, this book opened my eyes to a lot of atrocities that happened and continue to happen in my country. Sad.
Relatable read.

[Jalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book was intense. It was very fast-paced and I finished it in 2 days. The book focuses on a family who is split apart by politics and the post-election violence in 2007. The book does a great job of giving insights to the horrors and violence that many Kenyans experienced during this time period and still are grappling with to this day. It speaks to the stark class divisions and insulation monied individuals experience in the country and how unconcerned people with privilege are of the reverberations of their choices.

A decision to run for office and follow a lineage of corruption sets off a chain of events that I could not have imagined when the story started. So much selfishness and ego led to so much pain. This is not an easy read, especially in the last portion of the story where the descriptions of violence and death are really hard to read. It was a very strong book up until the epilogue which felt rushed and not at all in line with the story that had been written up until that point. It felt as if the author did not know how to close which weakened the ending. With that said, I would still recommend this book. It is very well written and a really engaging story.

[Brian Okwalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Devastating, just heartbreaking. The book reflects what happened in Kenya during the Post election violence of 2007 and I commend the author for capturing what happened. I will prefix this review by saying I possess little or close to no artistic attribute and I am just giving my opinion. I feel like the theme could be a bit narrow and the author should have expounded or stuck with the marriage ripples between Kavata and Ngugi. I felt connected to that theme at the inception of the book and failing to explore such a rich theme is just unfortunate.

In hindsight I am also trying to place the title of the book to a specific event or thing but its too wide. Think about it, everything is a choice. I admire any artist who has the courage to put out his or her work out and this is an amazing read especially for a debut author. I will always ask myself the question whether Amani had to die? That's a sign of a good book and would recommend it. A 3.5 stars for me.

[Bellz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in Highschool when the post elections violence took place. I personally wasn’t swayed by the magnitude of the elections as much as so many livelihoods were affected. As a teenager, I thought the longer we stayed home, the better it was for me. We collectively knew ow bad it was a country, but the perspective painted from a family perspective!- revealing. So, reading this book has made me awake from the sheer ignorance and informed my emotions in many ways. I empathize for what took place then. It was horror for some, and I’m glad wanjiru Koinange documented this in her novel. I was enthralled by the political depth, the core Kenyan-ness in which she wrote in. Mr. Muli was the Atypical politician, and his character was spot on to the core. Oh Thuo, My heart settled when he finally jumped out the van. For schola and Cheptoo, it was a horrendous experience to have imagined what they must have gone through. Kavata, Ngugi and Wanja reminded me that you could be one decision away from getting into the pits of hell.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gifted this book and didn’t read it for a year, not knowing what to expect, oh my I have been unable to put it down, even with my busy schedule, I have cried because of Thuo & Cheptoo’s hurdles, I have felt an anger towards Ngugi and Mr. Muli, for putting their loved ones through such unwarranted pain, I have smiled because of Amani’s antics of putting stickers everywhere. This book has taken me through a rollercoaster of emotions and I have loved every bit of it. Especially now when Kenya is about to have another election. Wanjiru is such an amazing writer!!!

[Corrie Mwende · Rating 5 out of 5]

One family's story that captures the state of what was in the 2007 (Kenya) general election.

The narration & words could easily denumb my mind, because the events post the election are still etched in my mind. The despair and worry that we should never go back there!

I could feel each and every emotion that Wanjiru Koinange drew, evoking some dark memories. Is there hope in our political systems? Will most of our leaders ever care for issues as they steer the country or will their beguiling nature keep taking over? Well the power is in us.

📔 you need to read it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very beautifully written for such terrible things that happened omg. It was painful reading all this from people that were directly affected by the PEV.

[Caterina Massazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving, deep, and accurately painful - a powerful recount of the horrendous events in post 2007 elections in Kenya, told with the clarity and tempo of a beautiful novel. Highly highly recommend