What happens when the land your ancestors gave you is taken by strangers? In Chapter Two of *Our Land, Our Love*, Wacheera and Ekeno begin married life amid growing tensions in colonial Kenya. As British colonial rule threatens Kikuyu land, culture and identity, Ekeno faces a difficult choice: remain a teacher or join the growing resistance. Can their love survive the struggle for land, dignity and freedom? 🎧 Listen to this chapter of *Our Land, Our Love*, a historical fiction serialisation exploring Kikuyu traditions, colonial Kenya, land dispossession and the road to rebellion. Books in Africa brings African stories to your ears one instalment at a time.

What if the biggest obstacle to Luo economic progress isn't outsiders, but Luos themselves? In Dr. Kavirondo, two academics confront uncomfortable questions about Luo politics, wealth, tribal identity and the rivalries that may be holding their community back. Through a tense exchange between Dr. Kavirondo and Dr. Kajuang, the story examines the legacies of Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila Odinga and Miguna Miguna, exploring political rivalry, economic development, leadership and divisions within the Luo community. 🎧 Want to listen to the full audiobook? Listen to Dr Kavirondo on the On eKitabu app or purchase it through the shop.ekitabu.com. Books in Africa brings African stories to your ears one instalment at a time.

What happens when strangers settle on your land, and the home you have always known begins to slip away? In the first chapter of Our Land, Our Love, we meet Wacheera Githue, a young woman navigating family expectations, the stirrings of love and the changing world around her in the highlands of colonial Kenya. Working as a domestic servant on the farm of a white settler, Wacheera experiences a world vastly different from her own. But the stories her grandmother told her about the arrival of the white man linger in her mind, raising questions about land, belonging and the future of her people. Back in her village, Wacheera's childhood bond with Ekeno begins to blossom into something more. Yet, as the two grow closer, a more pressing question emerges: what happens when the land that defines a people is threatened? Love is beginning to bloom, but so is uncertainty. 🎧 Listen to Chapter One of Our Land, Our Love and step into a story of love, memory, tradition and the struggle to hold on to what is yours. Books in Africa brings African stories to your ears one instalment at a time.

"What happens when a book deliberately sets out to provoke? In this conversation, literary critic Maurice Oginga takes a critical look at Dr. Kavirondo, pointing to the gaps in the book and the sweeping generalisations made by its author. But beyond the flaws and unanswered questions, Oginga considers what the book ultimately succeeds in doing: starting conversations that might otherwise remain uncomfortable or unexplored. Does a book have to be perfect to achieve what it set out to do?"

"In Chapter 3, Dr. Kavirondo is told that the reason Luo men are increasingly marrying outside the Luo community has everything to do with Luo women — and their attitude towards money, luxury and the future. The argument? A Luo woman wants the best of everything: the biggest television, the best car, expensive hotels and a fully stocked food store. A non-Luo wife, on the other hand, is portrayed as more likely to think about investment and building for the future. But Dr. Kavirondo has one question: **“Isn’t that a generalization?”** 🎧 Want to listen to the full audiobook? Listen to Dr Kavirondo on the On eKitabu app or purchase it through the shop.ekitabu.com. Books in Africa brings African stories to your ears one instalment at a time. "

What happens when mourning turns into a fight over the dead man’s belongings? After the death of Brigadier Fred Kavirondo, thousands descend on his home to mourn. But as the family grieves, mourners begin carrying away clothes, furniture, utensils and other possessions—some claiming it is a Luo custom that everything belonging to the dead must disappear with him. Dr Kavirondo is horrified. At his father’s burial, the chaos takes another turn. Politicians seize the microphone to raise old questions about the deaths of Tom Mboya and Robert Ouko, and to ask whether Kavirondo himself died naturally. But when the crowds finally leave, the doctor discovers that the greatest shock may not have come from the mourners at all. 🎧 Want to listen to the full audiobook? Listen to Dr Kavirondo on the On eKitabu app or purchase it through the shop.ekitabu.com. Books in Africa brings African stories to your ears one instalment at a time.

What would you promise your dying father? For Dr Wellington Wilberforce Kavirondo, that final request is not what he expected to hear. Living in Mexico, building an international career and raising a family with his Jamaican wife, WW has spent years caught between the life he has chosen and the Luo traditions he has questioned. But when his powerful father, Brigadier Fred Kavirondo, lies dying in a Nairobi hospital, WW is forced to return home. Then, with his final breath, his father asks him to make one promise: he must marry a Luo woman. What follows is a story of family, identity, power, culture and the expectations that follow us home — even when we have travelled far away. Dr Kavirondo by David G. Maillu is a psychological and cultural tale that explores the tensions within Luo society through the life of a man caught between continents, generations and competing ideas of who he should be. This is Part 1 of the Books in Africa serialised reading. 🎧 Want the full audiobook? Listen to Dr Kavirondo on the On eKitabu app or purchase it through the shop.ekitabu.com . Follow Books in Africa and come back next week for another story. Books in Africa brings African stories to your ears one instalment at a time.

What do buildings remember long after the people who built them are gone? In this episode of the Books in Africa Podcast, Tracy Ochieng speaks with South African writer Barbara Adair about her new book, The Art Deco Buildings of Nairobi, which documents the city's architectural heritage and the stories of the African Asian families who shaped it. Through conversations with residents and descendants, Adair uncovers how Indian Kenyan communities transformed Parklands and other parts of Nairobi, blending Art Deco design with Indian traditions and creating homes that reflected migration, prosperity, and belonging. The discussion also ventures into difficult questions around heritage, identity, colonisation, migration, and who gets to claim space in a changing city. As Nairobi's historic homes disappear beneath high-rises, this episode asks what is lost when buildings vanish—and whether stories can preserve what concrete cannot. Because walls do have ears.

Can a story belong to a place if its writer comes from somewhere else? In this episode, Virginia Clay joins us to discuss Warrior Boy, identity, cultural representation, and the power of stories to help young readers find where they belong.