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| Route map of Ugandan railway - which went through Kenya. Source: Telegraph stamps of the World |
Last night, I had the pleasure of listening to Peter Kimani, who was in conversation with Fiammetta Rocco – Culture Correspondent at Economist, about his novel Dance of the Jakaranda, which has been recently published in the UK by Saqi Books. The insightful conversation touched upon the novel's focus on an Indian character as one of the main protagonist, whether Peter Kimani – as a Black Kenyan could write about a Kenyan Asian, how the book has been received by Asians in Kenya, as well a Kenyans more broadly, about where the story came from, why it was set in a hotel, the significance of music and dance in the story and more.
One thing that came out from the
conversation, and something that has been at the back of my mind for a while, was 1) that specifically this is a historical novel and 2) that more generally there is a rise in
historical fiction in Africa. The last few
years has seen quite a number of historical fiction from writers from Africa
and the Diaspora, such as Homegoing from Yaa Gyasi ,The Moor’s Account from Laila Lalami,
and Butterfly Fish from Irenosen
Okojie. This is not to say that historical fiction from African writers is a
new thing – as a post I did a couple years ago on African historical fiction included works such as
Abdulrazak Gurna’s Paradise Lost and
Ahdaf Soueif’s The Map of Love.
Still, it’s amazing to see more African historical fiction being published and
the new and novel ways writers are re-imagining and re-writing African history.
Indeed, this year alone sees some very exciting new historical fiction
releases (in the UK), and there’s already a very exciting novel coming out in 2019.
Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Jan 2018 | Oneworld)
The year is 1750. As he makes his way to the capital to pledge allegiance to the new leader of the Buganda Kingdom, Kintu Kidda unleashes a curse that will plague his family for generations. As the centuries pass, the tale moves down the bloodline, exploring the lives of four of Kintu Kidda’s descendants. Although the family members all have their own stories and live in very different circumstances, they are united by one thing – the struggle to break free from the curse and escape the burden of their family’s past.
Blending Ganda oral tradition, myth, folktale and history, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi has brought to life an extraordinarily colourful cast of characters to produce a powerful epic – a modern classic.
Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani (March 2018 | Saqi Books)
1963. Kenya is on the verge of independence from British colonial rule.
In the Great Rift Valley, Kenyans of all backgrounds come together in the
previously white-only establishment of the Jakaranda Hotel. The resident
musician is Rajan Salim, who charms visitors with songs inspired by his
grandfather's noble stories of the railway construction that spawned the Kenya
they now know.
One evening, Rajan is kissed by a
mysterious woman in a shadowy corridor. Unable to forget the taste of her
lavender-flavoured lips, Rajan sets out to find her. On his journey he stumbles
upon the murky, shared history of three men – his grandfather, the owner of the
Jakaranda and a British preacher – who were implicated in the controversial
birth of a child. What Rajan unearths will open his eyes about the birth not
just of a child, but of an entire nation.
Woman of the Ashes: A Novel by Mia Couto; Translated by David Brookshaw (April 2018 | Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The
Hundred Wells of Salaga by Ayesha Haruna Attah (May 2018 | Cassava Republic Press)
Aminah lives an
idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a
journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the
willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her
father's court. These two women's lives converge as infighting among Wurche's
people threatens to cleave the region, during the height of the slave trade at
the end of the 19th century. Set in pre-colonial Ghana, The Hundred Wells of
Salaga is a story of courage, forgiveness, love and freedom. Through the
experiences of Aminah and Wurche, it offers a remarkable view of slavery and
how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.
In the Palace of Flowers by Victoria Princewill (2019 | Cassava Republic Press)
Set in Iran in the 19th century —in
the Persian royal court of the Qajars— In The Palace of Flowers is an atmospheric historical
debut. Inspired by the only existing first-person account of an Abyssinian
slave in Iran, Jamīla Habashī, In the Palace of Flowers vividly recreates the court of
the Iranian Shah in the 1890s, a precarious time of growing public dissent,
foreign interference from the Russians and British, and the problem of an
ageing ruler with an unsuitable heir. It tells the story from the unique
perspective of two Abyssinian slaves: Jamila, a concubine, and Abimelech, a
eunuch.
Highly accomplished, In
the Palace of Flowers is
a magnificent novel about the fear of being forgotten. It has all the
ingredients of the best historical fiction: power struggles, scandal, sex,
ambition, secrets and betrayal, and it explores inequality and oppression with
insight and subtlety. In this debut, Victoria Princewill shines a light on an
area of history about which many readers will know little in a way that feels
fresh and grand, yet contemporary.
