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A review by screeching_dread
Forbidden Fruit by Stanley Gazemba
5.0
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one in particular caught my eye when I was browsing the available titles on Netgalley. After reading the book, however, I found that it wasn't representative of the story. Or perhaps I'm missing something. I'm so glad it piqued my interest, though!
The book description says that it is “more than a dramatic tale of rural life in western Kenya”. That's exactly right. It's a good story, with lovable and unlovable characters and it feels like a nice walk around Maragoli most of the time. In the middle of what seems like a tale of everyday life, you see raw human nature, tinted by the particularities of Kenyan culture, where you can recognise yourself in their virtues and defects, sort of like having a mirror put in front of your face. All the time feeling like you are standing right there, living it with the rest of them and found myself trying to get into their shoes.
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up this book -and well into the first quarter- but it wasn't what I got. It went in a completely different direction than the one I was expecting and I love it when an author does that successfully!
One of the things I liked about this book was that it taught me a lot about a culture completely different from mine. The descriptions sometimes made me feel like I was there, seeing, hearing, smelling and touching the things described. That's a very rare talent, and Stanley Gazemba definitely has it. It's an interesting story; and, if like me you are relatively ignorant of Kenyan culture, it's also a super interesting source of information.
I'd really recommend it and this won't be the last book by the author I’ll read. The man’s got talent!
I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one in particular caught my eye when I was browsing the available titles on Netgalley. After reading the book, however, I found that it wasn't representative of the story. Or perhaps I'm missing something. I'm so glad it piqued my interest, though!
The book description says that it is “more than a dramatic tale of rural life in western Kenya”. That's exactly right. It's a good story, with lovable and unlovable characters and it feels like a nice walk around Maragoli most of the time. In the middle of what seems like a tale of everyday life, you see raw human nature, tinted by the particularities of Kenyan culture, where you can recognise yourself in their virtues and defects, sort of like having a mirror put in front of your face. All the time feeling like you are standing right there, living it with the rest of them and found myself trying to get into their shoes.
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up this book -and well into the first quarter- but it wasn't what I got. It went in a completely different direction than the one I was expecting and I love it when an author does that successfully!
One of the things I liked about this book was that it taught me a lot about a culture completely different from mine. The descriptions sometimes made me feel like I was there, seeing, hearing, smelling and touching the things described. That's a very rare talent, and Stanley Gazemba definitely has it. It's an interesting story; and, if like me you are relatively ignorant of Kenyan culture, it's also a super interesting source of information.
I'd really recommend it and this won't be the last book by the author I’ll read. The man’s got talent!