Aidan Reads reviewed The river between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo (African writers series -- 17)
Review of 'The river between' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
3.5, I did like the book and I learned a lot from it but you can tell its the author's first novel. The first half of the novel is a classic coming-of-age tale with a practical realism meeting the magical memory of the Kenyan hilllands. It plays out important issues for Africans under colonialism, dealing very directly with the complex issue of female circumcision. But the second half of the book is too burdened by repetitive exposition, and morality play style allusions for it to really shine, although certainly, the potential is there. The book is worth reading and I look forward to reading other of Thiong'o's works.
