Colonialism, corruption and Kenyan mythologies combine in this tale of a clever young girl who refuses to be beaten down by circumstance. It’s heart-breaking to see Mukami lurch from one trauma to another, and I was willing her on to find a way through this unsettling, tragic, coming-of-age story. I was relieved that against all odds there is a hopefulness to the ending.
I have a flashback of crawling under barbed wire. It’s jumbled up with images of the chang’aa seller running after us, slapping the flabs of her belly before lifting her floppy muscles to reveal her nakedness. There’s no clarity but my heart is racing. The shock of that late afternoon manifesting in small doses, like a trailer from a horror film. The word Curse is floating around in my mind. Even in the vagueness of it all, I know the implications of seeing the nakedness of an old woman.
