Published barely eleven years after Kenya’s independence, the novel entered a society that was undergoing rapid transformation. Women were beginning to occupy offices, secretarial pools, and professional spaces in greater numbers. Yet with that entry into the workforce came complicated negotiations of power—between ambition and vulnerability, between economic independence and social expectation.

Bill Odhiambo is a survivor of the 2016 military massacre in El Adde, which wiped out over a hundred Kenyan soldiers and left him crippled. Ostracised from the public by the Miles’ regime and forced to lead a quiet life in Busia Town, Bill suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, constantly blaming himself for what took place in Somalia. He desires to reveal the faces and truth behind the bloodbath and find justice for himself and his fellow fallen soldiers. The UN’s claim that a survivor is under constraints by the Kenyan government breathes new life into the saga.

“But why don’t all these Kenyans, if they are so miserable, go back home?” she asked.“Pride. You have been here only a few months, and you hate it, but if I asked you to go back, would you?”“Of course not,” she said curtly. “Europe may not be all that, but it is better than being stuck in Mukuru kwa Reuben. At least now, I can send my mother enough money to get her off the daily, punishing market grind.”It was hard to explain how she could hate London so much, yet have no desire to return home. It was like refusing to walk out on an abusive relationship.

Strangely, William Ruto, a political fox if there was one, missed the lesson. Against advice, he bypassed his Tom Hagen, Prof Kithure Kindiki, for Rigathi Gachagua – a Santino with a fist – as running mate.

It was a job at the reception, in a company that sold land. Nothing to do with what she had spent too much of Mr Muthama’s money studying. She hated the job on the first day, and every day after that. Within a couple of months, she started to seriously consider leaving the country. To America. So she started saving money for a passport, for a visa application, to improve her bank account.She had been ill-equipped for the interview, and it had taken the immigration officer at the American Embassy less than a minute to decide she was a flight risk.A friend had advised her to get another passport under a different name, which she did with no qualms once she realised she would not be the first, nor the last. Biometric technology had not made a global mark, 9/11 had not happened, thus the world was not as suspicious.

If some men were honest about their desire to maintain multiple relationships, would the betrayal wound feel less deeply when discovered? Or would such honesty simply expose how fragile many marriages already are? But then there is an even more complicated question beneath that one. Who are the women who choose to remain in marriages where respect has clearly eroded? Is it love? Shared history? Children? Economic reality? Social expectation? Or is the title of Mrs. so powerful that many would rather remain married than confront the humiliation of walking away?