Eaten by a Secret: Reckoning after the Cataclysm

Mugo Has a Secret. So Does Mumbi. Hers Is Harder to Hide. Reviewing ‘A Grain of Wheat’ by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

It’s possible to look at history as a series of major events, sweeping turns, upheavals, and cataclysms. But for every action, there are actors. Events, turns, and upheavals happen through and to individuals: the man in the market, the girl at the train station.

“A historical view makes everyone into hostages of great societal events,” says Eugene Vodola…