Recently updated on July 19th, 2023 at 03:40 pm
If you are planning a trip to Kenya, dive into these nonfiction and fiction titles that bring the heart and soul of this African nation to life. These books about Kenya explore the rich local culture, from tough pre-colonial times to modern fiction from today.
Explore the country with words by Kenyan literature greats, or read an outsiders perspective on life in the Kenyan countryside living alongside lions and other unique wildlife.
If a trip to Kenya is on your mind, pop a few of these on your to-read list and appreciate the extra depth that insight into the local culture can bring to your travels.
Unbowed (2006) by Wangari Maathai
Start your journey in Kenyan literature with this nonfiction memoir by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai. The hugely charismatic, humble single mother of three chronicles her struggle from rural life, her fight for an education and her extraordinary life as a political activist, feminist and environmentalist in Kenya. Born in a rural village in 1940, Wangari bucked the trend by not only getting an education, but going on to be the first woman to finish a PhD in East and Central Africa, and the first to head a university department in Kenya. Follow her brave story from government run-ins to replanting indigenous forests to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her “contribution to sustainable development, human rights, and peace”.
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A Grain of Wheat (1967) by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Days ahead of Kenya’s independence from Britain, Grain of Wheat is set to the backdrop of the Mau Mau rebellion and follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency Period, in which colonialists detained and tortured civilians. Mugo is the village’s chosen hero and he is haunted by a terrible secret. Through this work we learn about the villagers’ tangled stories, plus look at themes like compromise, betrayal and love. This book is from one of Kenya’s greatest novelists, who has contributed a great deal of postcolonial Kenyan literature.
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City of Saints & Thieves (2017) by Natalie C. Anderson
Strong writing and a rich and beautiful setting make this contemporary young adult part revenge, part murder mystery story a page turner. Tina and her mother are refugees from the Congo. They escape to Kenya where her mum is a maid for a wealthy family. Her mother is eventually murdered, leaving her and her sister orphans. Seething with revenge, Tina joins the city’s local gang, becomes a master thief and starts dreaming of a vengeance plan.
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Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth (2012) by Adharanand Finn
Go on a trip to Kenya with outsider and avid runner Adharanand Finn. The Englishman, author and journalist takes us to the elite training camps of Kenya in this novel that is part travelogue, part memoir. A naturally gifted runner, Finn always admired the Kenyan long-distance runners and so he uprooted his young family of five and moved to a small, chaotic town in the Rift Valley. He’s there on a mission to uncover the secrets of the world’s greatest runners and Olympians, gaining advice, spiritual insight and a fresh take on barefoot running along the way.
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My Maasai Life: From Suburbia to Savannah (2010) by Robin Wiszowaty
Another memoir from an outsiders perspective, Robin was a middle-class girl from suburban Illinois, USA, until her life changed during a gap year in Kenya. She ventured into an impoverished part of Maasailand where under the guidance of her adopted mother, she faces new issues like extreme poverty, drought, female circumcision, corruption and love.
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West with the Night (1942) by Beryl Markham
Africa, aviation and adventure are the themes behind this 1942 classic book about Kenya. Author Beryl Markham recounts her epic life – setting records, breaking barriers and shattering social expectations. The female pilot survived crash landings, had torrid love affairs and chronicled it all in this memoir. The British-born rebel was raised in Kenya’s farmlands, trained as a bush pilot, and accepted the ultimate challenge of flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1936.
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Dust (2013) by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
This fiction story centres around power and deceit, unrequited love, survival and sacrifice of a splintered family in Kenya. The mystery kicks off when Odidi Oganda is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi while running for his life, leaving his fragmented family to pick up the pieces. Through fictitious storytelling, learn about real historic events in Kenya from the shocking political assassination in 1969 to the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s.
Which books about Kenya would you choose to read first and why? Let us know in the comments…