DUST by award winning author Yvonne Adhiambo Awour AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
From a remarkable captivating new writer called Yvonne Adhiambo Awour a winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, comes a new novel about a splintered family in Kenya and the struggling nation around it ,a story of power and deceit and survival, grief and madness, unrequited love, sacrifice and perseverance.
Summary:
Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home deep in the Kenyan drylands, seeking some comfort and peace. But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched, and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany’s mercurial mother flees in a fit of anguish and rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas’ house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge. In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya, back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation. Here is a spellbinding novel about a brother and sister who have lost their way; about how myths come to pass, history is written, and war stains us forever.
Biography:
Yvonne Adhiambo Awuor was born in Nairobi Kenya she was educated at Jomo Kenyatta University and she did her masters Degree in Television and Video at the University of Reading. In 2003 she was awarded the Caine Prize for African writing for her short story , “Weight of Whispers” , this book was described by the BBC as a “subtle and suggestive work of fiction that dramatized the condition of refugees” . Weight of Whispers was originally published in Kwani Magazine a Kenyan literary magazine set up by Binyavanga Wainaina after he himself won the Caine Prize in a previous year. Yvonne’s writing has appeared in numerous publications world wide including Kwani and McSweeney’s and her story “The Knife Grinders Tale” was made into a short film in 2005. Yvonne was also named “Woman of the year” by EVA Magazine in Kenya in 2004. She has worked as a screenwriter and was the Executive Director of the Zanzibar International Film Festival from 2003 to 2005. Some of her other books include “Dressing the Dirge” and “The State of Tides”.
Reviews:
“Go buy Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust. In this dazzling novel you will find the entirety of human experience—tearshed, bloodshed, lust, love—in staggering proportions . . . Although written by an East African, Dust is not just for Afrophiles. It is for bibliophiles . . . Akai-ma ranks among the most inimitable female characters in modern literature.” —Taiye Selasi, New York Times Book Review
“An astonishing novel . . . Engrossing . . . Owuor demonstrates extraordinary talent and range in these pages . . . Here in this remarkable novel is a brave, healing voice.” --Washington Post
“Brilliant . . . A chilling portrait of Kenya that’s brimming with pain and promise . . . Owuor is taking her place in Kenya’s long line of outstanding writers.” --Essence magazine
The Caine Prize for African Writing is a prestigious annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer published in the English language. It was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000 an was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine a former chairman of The Booker Group PLC. It carries a 10,000 British Pound prize and because of its connection to the Booker Prize it is sometimes referred to as the African Booker.
From a remarkable captivating new writer called Yvonne Adhiambo Awour a winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, comes a new novel about a splintered family in Kenya and the struggling nation around it ,a story of power and deceit and survival, grief and madness, unrequited love, sacrifice and perseverance.
Summary:
Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home deep in the Kenyan drylands, seeking some comfort and peace. But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched, and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany’s mercurial mother flees in a fit of anguish and rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas’ house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge. In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya, back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation. Here is a spellbinding novel about a brother and sister who have lost their way; about how myths come to pass, history is written, and war stains us forever.
Biography:
Yvonne Adhiambo Awuor was born in Nairobi Kenya she was educated at Jomo Kenyatta University and she did her masters Degree in Television and Video at the University of Reading. In 2003 she was awarded the Caine Prize for African writing for her short story , “Weight of Whispers” , this book was described by the BBC as a “subtle and suggestive work of fiction that dramatized the condition of refugees” . Weight of Whispers was originally published in Kwani Magazine a Kenyan literary magazine set up by Binyavanga Wainaina after he himself won the Caine Prize in a previous year. Yvonne’s writing has appeared in numerous publications world wide including Kwani and McSweeney’s and her story “The Knife Grinders Tale” was made into a short film in 2005. Yvonne was also named “Woman of the year” by EVA Magazine in Kenya in 2004. She has worked as a screenwriter and was the Executive Director of the Zanzibar International Film Festival from 2003 to 2005. Some of her other books include “Dressing the Dirge” and “The State of Tides”.
Reviews:
“Go buy Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust. In this dazzling novel you will find the entirety of human experience—tearshed, bloodshed, lust, love—in staggering proportions . . . Although written by an East African, Dust is not just for Afrophiles. It is for bibliophiles . . . Akai-ma ranks among the most inimitable female characters in modern literature.” —Taiye Selasi, New York Times Book Review
“An astonishing novel . . . Engrossing . . . Owuor demonstrates extraordinary talent and range in these pages . . . Here in this remarkable novel is a brave, healing voice.” --Washington Post
“Brilliant . . . A chilling portrait of Kenya that’s brimming with pain and promise . . . Owuor is taking her place in Kenya’s long line of outstanding writers.” --Essence magazine
The Caine Prize for African Writing is a prestigious annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer published in the English language. It was founded in the United Kingdom in 2000 an was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine a former chairman of The Booker Group PLC. It carries a 10,000 British Pound prize and because of its connection to the Booker Prize it is sometimes referred to as the African Booker.