Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

Dust

Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

The history of Kenya is documented in the story of one Kenyan family. Through colonialism, civil war, drought , famine, death and any other imaginable horror, to present day political corruption we follow the fortunes of the Oganda family. The language brings the landscape and the characters to overwhelming life. A truly extraordinary reading experience.

Extract
Odidi runs.
Tears flood. Terror-rage-love fuse.
The fallen ones are his men.
Guilt. Fury. Sorrow.
'Urgh!' The sound a captain makes when he falters and looses the team. Still Odidi does not go for the pistol strapped to his chest. Odidi runs. Strength in his arms, his legs pistons, he sprints down Haile Selassie Avenue, jumps over prone, cowering citizens, pities them, the bullets aimed at him raining down upon them. He runs through the stench of decay, the perfume of earth hoping for rain, habits and dreams of Nairobi's people: smoke, rot, trade, worry, residues of laughter, and overbrewed Ketepa tea. Odidi runs.
Parallels
  • Mercy by Lara Santoro
  • The Granta Book of the African Short Story by Helon Habila ed

A terrible beauty