Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Post any books set in Kenya here.

Books set in Kenya:


The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai
The Constant Gardener by John le Carré
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen
Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway
Death in Kenya by M.M. Kaye
Born Free by Joy Adamson
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann
A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
White Mischief by James Fox
Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah
My Maasai Life by Robin Wiszowaty
Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Murder on Safari by Elspeth Huxley
Coming to Birth by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson
The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood by Elspeth Huxley
Sunrise Song: Treasures of the Heart by Catherine Palmer
The African Poison Murders by Elspeth Huxley
Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Lioness by Nell Brien
Out in the Midday Sun: My Kenya by Elspeth Huxley
Devil on the Cross by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure by Lotte Hughes
Matigari by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
The Bolter: Edwardian Heartbreak and High Society Scandal in Kenya by Frances Osborne
Nowhere in Africa: An Autobiographical Novel by Stefanie Zweig
Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
It's Our Turn to Eat by Michela Wrong
Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard
How to be a Kenyan by Wahome Mutahi
Nairobi Heat by Mukoma wa Ngugi
Going Down River Road by Meja Mwangi
Forest of the Pygmies by Isabel Allende
I Dreamed of Africa by Kuki Gallmann
A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve
Homeland: An Extraordinary Story of Hope and Survival by George Obama
Almost Adam: A Novel by Petru Popescu
Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family by Cynthia Moss
African Nights by Kuki Gallmann
Safari Adventure by Willard Price
The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley
Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski
My Pride and Joy: An Autobiography by George Adamson
A Friend of the Court by Műroki Ndűng'ű
Rejected but not forsaken; HIV &AIDS, my story by Aloo, Jeniffer
Against the traditions by Mwaura Njoroge
The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior: An Autobiography by Tepilit Ole Saitoti
One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
Going Places by Billy Hopkins
The Temptress by Paul Spicer
My Kenya Days by Wilfred Thesiger
Shrunken Dream, The by Jane Tapsubei Creider
Discovering Home by Binyavanga Wainaina
Child of Happy Valley: A Memoir by Juanita Carberry
A Dreamer's Paradise by David Karanja
Happy Valley by Meja Mwangi
A Farm Called Kishinev by M.O. Macoye
Kenya Under Kenyatta by Veena Malhotra
Facing Mount Kenya by Jomo Kenyatta
Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton by Sara Wheeler
Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa by Mark Seal
Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures by Richard E. Leakey
Red Strangers by Elspeth Huxley
Red Strangers: The White Tribe of Kenya by C.S. Nicholls
Mau Mau: An African Crucible by Robert B. Edgerton
SOMETHING OF VALUE by Robert Ruark
Green City in the Sun by Barbara Wood
Murder at Government House by Elspeth Huxley
Present Moment by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
Homing In by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
The Cliff Dwellers of Kenya by J.A. Massam
The Shadow of Kilimanjaro by Rick Ridgeway
The In-between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji
Jambo, Mama by Melinda Atwood
The Book of Secrets: A Novel by M.G. Vassanji
The Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie Ford
Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson
Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda (1st of series set in Kenya)
Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman
Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller
Bait by Nick Brownlee (1st book in series set in Kenya)
Burn My Heart by Beverley Naidoo
I Refuse to Die: My Journey for Freedom by Koigi wa Wamwere
Going Down River Road by Meja Mwangi
Letters from Africa, 1914-1931 by Karen Blixen
Nellie: Letters from Africa by Elspeth Huxley
by Caroline Elkins
The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience by Wangari Maathai
Defeating Mau Mau, Creating Kenya by Daniel Branch
Mau Mau and Kenya: An Analysis of a Peasant Revolt by Wunyabari O. Maloba
Elspeth Huxley: A Biography by C.S. Nicholls
Deadly Safari by Karin McQuillan (1st in series set in Kenya)
A Fool's Knot by Philip Spires
Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire by David Anderson

More from Kenya:


Rules of the Wild: A Novel of Africa by Francesca Marciano
Blossoms of the Savannah by H.R. Ole Kulet
Obvious Enchantment by Tucker Malarkey
Almost Human: A Journey into the World of Baboons by Shirley C. Strum
Triangulation: A Novel by Phil Whitaker
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
Reunion in Barsaloi by Corinne Hofmann
The White Rhino Hotel: Library Edition by Bartle Bull (1st in series set in Kenya)
River and the Source, The by Margaret A Ogola
Beyond Mombasa by Frank Coates
The Journey to Mombasa by Carol Kairo
Son of Woman in Mombasa by Charles Mangua
It Happened On the Way to War by Rye Barcott

I have started a Listopia list of books set in Kenya here: Books Set in Kenya. I compiled the list from this thread but there are many more books not yet on the list due to the 100 book limit. Feel free to vote for your favorites and/or add books that I missed!

More books set in Kenya:


A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons
Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna
Maasai Days by Cheryl Bentsen
Blue-eyed in Luhya-land by Gunilla Fagerholm
In Memory of Greed by Al Boudreau
Malaika by Van Heerling
Last Orders at Harrods: An African Tale by Michael Holman
Blood Sisters by Barbara Keating (1st book in trilogy)
Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson
All That You Can't Leave Behind: A Rookie Missionary's Life In Africa

Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth by Adharanand Finn

Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

The Fall of Saints: A Novel by Wanjiku Wa Ngugi

The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change by Roger Thurow

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

The Promise of Rain (From Kenya, With Love #1)

Out of the Shadows

What Tears Us Apart

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Escape, A Perilous ClimbbyFelice Benuzzi

Peninah's Passion

Lion in the Evening by Alan Scholefield

City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson

Leopard At The Door by Jennifer McVeigh

Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani

Our Secret, Siri Aang

Ripples in the Pool by Rebeka Njau

The Brightest Sun by Adrienne Benson

More books set in Kenya:


Across The Bridge by Mwangi Gicheru
Adé: A Love Story by Rebecca Walker
Africa, My Passion by Corinne Hofmann
African Dream by Elizabeth Hoy
African Skies by Karen Rispin
Alexandria of Africa by Eric Walters (1st book in series)
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by Hugh Cran
The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig
Assegai by Wilbur Smith (13th book in Courtney series)
Away from You by Melanie Finn
The Baboon King by Anton Quintana
Barefoot Over the Serengeti by David Read
The Black Hermit by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Black Star Nairobi by Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ
Blue Africa by Therese Stenzel (1st book in British Missives series)
Born Wild: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Passion for Lions and for Africa
The Boy Gift by Meja Mwangi
Breath of Africa by J.L. Bwye
Brother: A Story of Hope and Survival from Africa's Rebel Heart by George Obama
Burning Embers by Hannah Fielding

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs by Rhys Bowen

Blood Sisters by Barbara and Stephanie Keating

Casting out Anger: Religion among the Taita of Kenya by Grace Gredys Harris.

Lucky Girl