Summary
While her mother is off appealing to the District Commissioner, Nyabera gives birth to a daughter named Awiti, who calms her mother’s fears of losing another child by growing plump and strong. However, when the child is only three years old, Nyabera’s husband, Okumu, falls ill with a sudden fever and dies within a few days. Shocked and in grief, Nyabera finds herself in the same position as her mother: a widow with only one daughter and no sons. Yet, it is this same daughter who gives her the strength to keep fighting. As is custom, a husband is found to give her more children and stop any promiscuity; they can have children together, but because she is a widow he is under no obligation to care for them as his own. When the two children they have together die, Nyabera decides she has had enough. Believing that she was not fated to find happiness in being a wife with many children, she searches for a new path. She hears talk of a new religion brought by the colonists, Catholicism, which welcomes the poor and widows. Believing this might be the answer to her suffering, she seeks out information on this religion and decides to travel to the new mission. In order to do so, she must leave behind her mother and daughter.
Nyabera travels alone to the mission in Aluor and throws herself into learning about Catholicism. All newcomers must take catechism to learn about principles of the Catholic religion and Nyabera excels as a student, although her teacher interprets her curiosity and questions as insolence. Nyabera is intrigued by the newness of her life: the houses made of stone, the rituals of Catholic Mass, the prayers in Latin. Life as a widow is lonely without her mother and daughter, yet Nyabera finds hope in the stories of the Bible, relating to religious figures’ suffering and emotions. After completing catechism, Nyabera is baptized as Maria.
Once baptized, Nyabera now insists everyone call her Maria. This is how she is referred to for the rest of the novel. Maria visits home, where she stays for six months, spending time with the family and telling stories from the Bible to her daughter Awiti and nephew Owuor. Maria has one problem with her new life: Catholics are monogamous. Maria worries that in Luo culture, no man would accept a widow as his first and only wife, yet she desperately hopes to remarry and have more children. Maria admits to her mother she does not have an answer to this predicament, but is praying that she’ll find a way. Eventually, she works up the courage to ask Akoko and the children to come with her to the mission, and is surprised when Akoko readily accepts, even though it means Akoko must give up her considerable wealth. After making the journey with the children, they settle into life at the mission.
Owuor and Awiti start school; it is a mix of catechism, reading, and math. Owuor, Akoko’s grandson and Maria's nephew, is dogged with his studies. Awiti is like her mother, a fast learner with a good memory; however, with her active imagination, she gets distracted easily. The majority of the orphans and widows in Aluor rely on the mission's charity, yet Akoko is determined to be self-sufficient in providing for the children. Starting from scratch, she begins farming and tending a few animals despite her advanced age. As throughout her life, her hard work and skill in farming pay off. Eventually, all are baptized and given Christian names. Soon after, Maria leaves unexpectedly, going back to her matrimonial home and leaving Akoko to take care of the two children. Worried but determined, Akoko continues on. After striking up a friendship with the Catechist, he helps the family move into a home next to the church, a step up from their previous house which had been located in an isolated part of the mission. The proximity to the church permits the children to become fully absorbed into the life of the church.
When Owuor turns fourteen, he begins to feel the call of the priesthood. This causes him great conflict. As the only surviving male of the house of Owuor Kembo, his grandfather, it is his duty to return to Sakwa and get back the position of chief from the Council of Elders. He feels caught between his desire to become a priest and his sense of responsibility to his grandmother for all she's endured in losing her home and living in exile.
After nearly two years away, Maria returns to the mission filled with sorrow and shame at having strayed from the Catholic life. Maria shares with Akoko that upon hearing her second husband's wife died, she left to live with him. She tried to convince him to follow Catholic teachings with her, however, he rejected the idea of monogamy. They had another baby, but like so many of Maria’s children, it became ill and died. Distraught, she returns to the mission and confesses her sins. In time, she realizes that her desire to have a son has been fulfilled, albeit in a round-about way. Her nephew Owuor has loved her like a mother all along. He even confides in her about his desire to become a priest, and she offers to help him speak to his grandmother. Akoko is unsurprised when Owuor tells her of his wish; she understands that times are changing and has let go of the dream that he would retake the chief's position in Sakwa. Her only request is that Owuor take his grandfather and her husband’s name, Owuor Kembo, so that the name might live on. Thrilled, Peter Owuor Sino becomes Peter Owuor Kembo. He enters the seminary at age 15, with a determination to become a priest no matter the challenges.
After Owuor goes off to the seminary, Awiti is enrolled in the newly opened primary school which offers a wider range of subjects. Of the thirty-four students enrolled, she is one of two girls. Most families still live on the barter system, so many of the students end up dropping out because they are unable to come up with tuition fees. Awiti’s opportunity to get an education is a rare one; most people at the time still believe educating girls is unnecessary. Yet her mother and grandmother support her, finding ways to come up with the money every year until she finishes six years later, at the top of her class. At graduation, Awiti is thrilled to be invited to enroll in a new Teacher Training College, an excitement which is slightly dampened after Maria has a breakdown when old fears of losing her child overwhelm her. Akoko admonishes Maria later, and the two of them listen as Awiti shares with them about this new opportunity for her future.
At twenty years old, Awiti goes off to the Teacher Training College where she becomes known as Elizabeth, (she is referred to as Elizabeth throughout the rest of the book). The college has strict rules on interactions between men and women and breaking them can lead to expulsion. Having been brought up by women, Elizabeth is disturbed by the frequent advances she receives from men inside and outside of the college, who often become more determined by her lack of interest. All the other girls secretly pair up with someone, but Elizabeth remains alone, earning her various nicknames including ‘the nun.’ One day she meets a soldier and, much to her surprise, is actually interested in talking to him. She’s drawn to his perfect English, which goes against her assumptions that military men are all “a bunch of illiterates.” The soldier’s name is Mark Anthony Oloo Sigu, and, after he works up the courage to talk to her, he convinces her to let him write to her. Shocking herself, she agrees and flees.
Mark starts writing to Elizabeth, and it takes receiving three of his letters before she feels ready to write back. Through their letters, they gradually learn more about each other over the course of the next six months. Meanwhile, Mark is working as a clerk in a warehouse in the city of Nakuru and Elizabeth gets her teaching certificate and a teaching post back at her old school. One day, Mark writes to Elizabeth that he’d like to visit her to discuss important matters, inferring that he’s coming to propose. This sets Elizabeth’s family into a flurry of activity. As a house full of women, they must call on male relatives to be there. The following proceedings are a mix of old and new traditions. Mark arrives wearing military garb along with a traditional headdress and spear, and is accompanied by six male family members. Just as when Owuor came long ago for Akoko’s hand, spokesmen from both Mark and Elizabeth’s families guide the proceedings. When they reach the question of bride price, Akoko and Maria surprise everyone with their decision to request only a symbolic bride price. Afterward, celebrations and kong’o are passed around, and Akoko gets the chance to speak with Mark. Recognizing his promise, she finally feels like she can die in peace, which she does in her sleep later that night.
Elizabeth and Maria are heartbroken at the death of Akoko, who in so many ways was the rock of their family. Peter comes back from the seminary for the funeral. While everyone is mourning, Elizabeth finds the loss especially hard to deal with given that she has not faced as much death in her life as her mother. Akoko is laid to rest in the church’s burial ground rather than in her husband’s ancestral home, as tradition dictates. Elizabeth, overcome by grief, lashes out at Mark and her cousin Peter. Running home, she is met by her mother who shares the story of Akoko’s life with her. Hearing Akoko’s story helps Elizabeth calm down and reminds her that, like her grandmother, she must always keep fighting.
Elizabeth and Mark put off their wedding until Peter is ordained a priest and can officiate. Peter is assigned a large parish where he finds the work exhausting but fulfilling and purposeful. After they marry, Elizabeth and Mark head off to Nakuru where Mark’s job is, and Elizbeth finds work as a teacher. One day, Elizabeth wakes up feeling sick and nauseous; worried, Mark gives her anti-malaria pills, which only make her feel worse. They go to the hospital, where they find out that Elizbeth had actually been pregnant and had been exhibiting signs of morning sickness. The pills she took caused her to miscarry. Mark feels incredibly guilty, but Elizabeth forgives him saying she didn't even realize she was pregnant. Afterward, they have difficulty conceiving and resentment bubbles up, with Elizabeth accusing Mark of causing her to become sterile. The young couple remain uneasy until Mark’s mother demands an explanation for the lack of children, accusing Elizabeth of improper behavior before they married. Seeing Mark defend her helps Elizabeth forgive him and soon after Elizabeth gets pregnant. The couple is joyful.
Analysis
After the loss of her husband, Nyabera despairs. It’s only Awiti, her only surviving child, that brings Nyabera joy and gives her the strength to keep on living—an example of the resilience of the women in the novel. So much of a woman's place and security in Luo society is wrapped up in having a husband and sons that without that, Nyabera’s situation is precarious. Under the rules of Chik (tradition), she is given a replacement husband but it is only a half marriage, without true protection or sense of husband and family. This is when Nyabera first starts to question the traditions and rules she’s always lived by, and yet she tries her best to make it work. When this too fails, Nyabera reaches a breaking point. After trying repeatedly, without success, to follow the expectations of a woman in Luo society, she decides she must cut off ties and find a new life for herself. It is then that she turns to Catholicism and the theme of religion takes center stage in Part 2 of the novel.
Up to this point, the characters in the novel have had only sporadic encounters with colonists and their new religion. Nyabera has heard that Catholicism welcomes widows, orphans, and people on the margins of society. Her decision to seek out the mission means she’s walking into an almost complete unknown, with only the account of one other villager to guide her. Fearing that if she stays she’ll be consumed by bitterness for all the suffering and loss she’s faced, Nyabera leaves her daughter Awiti with her mother to start a new life at the mission in Aluor.
Nyabera fully commits herself to learning about Catholicism once she reaches the mission. She’s a quick learner and curious student, however, this quality is not appreciated by her teacher. Rather than passively accepting the catechism, Nyabera grapples with the information, asking thoughtful questions that are perceived as questioning authority. As a Luo woman seen by her teacher as ignorant, her curiosity is interpreted as insolence. Despite this, Nyabera finds a renewed sense of hope in the teachings of the church. She is particularly taken with the idea that Jesus Christ would choose to be born by a woman rather than a man, and would choose to live among men, experiencing the world as they do. For Nyabera, this idea honors women and helps her feel connected to her new faith. When Nyabera becomes baptized, she chooses Maria as her Christan name. Throughout the novel, names hold important symbolism and her choice of Maria is no different. Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is a powerful symbol of motherhood. The desire to be a mother is a defining factor and struggle in Nyabera’s life; she identifies with the Virgin Mary, who like her also suffered the loss of her child.
Once baptized, Maria visits home to spend time with her family. Akoko, as perceptive as ever, asks her daughter what she will do about marriage—bringing up the one rule in her new life that Maria continues to grapple with. Maria worries that she will not be able to follow the church’s teachings on monogamy because she desperately wishes to have more children. Luo is a polygamous society, and Maria doubts anyone would want to marry a widow as their one and only wife. Wishing to have her family with her, Maria invites Akoko, Awiti, and Owuor to live with her at the mission. Akoko, having already lived in exile after leaving her husband’s compound, welcomes the idea. Akoko’s ability to adapt and accept change is one of the qualities that helps her and her family survive. They settle into life together at the mission, yet Maria’s longing for more children never leaves her, and one day she disappears, leaving her mother to care for Awiti and Owuor. Although she is much older now, Akoko’s work ethic is just as strong, and she works tirelessly to make sure her grandchildren are provided for.
Owuor’s conflict of whether or not to become a priest represents a key moment of tension between tradition and change, two recurring themes in the novel. Owuor is caught between two worlds: his traditional Luo culture and the Catholic church, each with its own set of traditions and responsibilities.
After nearly two years away, Maria comes back. Despite finding hope in her new life, Maria has internalized expectations that to be a true mother in Luo society she must have sons. This narrow definition of motherhood causes her to desperately attempt to get back with her second husband. When he is unwilling to follow the Catholic teachers on monogamy, Maria returns home. Maria must learn to make peace with her path of motherhood with her daughter Awiti and her nephew Owuor who, forgotten by his birth mother, comes to view Maria as a mother figure.
After Owuor finally finds the courage to tell Akoko that he wants to become a priest, he is surprised by his grandmother’s reaction. Owuor worries he would be letting her down by not pursuing the title of chief, however, Akoko tells him, “things have changed and people are turning to different things.” As the colonial order creates ruptures in Luo society, characters have to choose which parts of the old traditions (Chik) to hold onto and when, and how to embrace change. The once-strong social ties and clear structure of tribal life are loosening, and Akoko understands this. However, she does want her late husband’s name to live on, so Owuor changes his name from Peter Owuor Sino to Peter Owuor Kembo, after his grandfather.
Opportunities for women are still very limited at this time, yet the support of Awiti’s mother and grandmother gives her the chance to get an education, and she excels as a student. A formal education had historically been rare, not only for women, but for anyone except the wealthiest people in the community. The themes of change and colonization arise as many of Awiti’s classmates are forced to drop out when their families are unable or unwilling to take on the burden of paying three shillings a year for tuition. Before the white man arrived, cattle was the accepted form of wealth, and it still is for many while Awiti is growing up. Of the thirty-four students who enrolled with her, only eleven remain years later when she graduates.
Coming from a family of pioneering women, Awiti forges a path for herself that defies the accepted expectations of a woman’s role as solely wife and mother in her community. This earns her criticism that no man would want to marry such an openly intelligent woman. She decides to continue her education after getting invited to a newly opened Teacher Training College, a big step, since she must leave home to do so. This brings up old fears for her mother Maria about losing her child. Having left their extended family, Akoko and Maria have poured everything they have into Awiti and Owuor. Akoko admonishes Maria, telling her that she must be happy for her daughter and not let her own fears hold Awiti back.
As Kenya is changing, Akoko and Maria have the foresight to provide Awiti and Owuor with an education. Yet it is significant that formal education is referred to as “the white man’s education.” Formal education and literacy are wrapped up in white colonial beliefs and values, some of which Awiti comes to internalize after her many years in their schools. After going off to school, Awiti becomes known by her Christian name, Elizabeth. After meeting Mark Anthony, she is surprised and impressed to find that a military man speaks perfect English, having previously thought military men “were a bunch of illiterates.” This condescending attitude is similar to how those in the city viewed her grandmother when Akoko made the journey to Kisuma to make her case before the DO. Akoko and her nephews were looked down on for not knowing white colonial ways of dress or customs and were seen as “primitives straight out of the bush.”
By the time Elizabeth is at the Teacher Training College, Akoko is nearing eighty and her health is worsening. Akoko is the matriarch of the family, and has helped the family get through difficult times with her iron will, perseverance, and wisdom. In spite of her weakening body, she hangs on to life, waiting. When her granddaughter Elizabeth receives news that Mark is coming to visit the family with the intention of proposing, Akoko gets a new burst of energy. Despite how much has changed, and their unusual position as widows and Christians, Akoko makes certain that traditions around bridal negotiations are done properly. As women, they must call on male relatives to represent the family during the bridal negotiations.
Even with the changing times, many of the older generations of both Elizabeth and Mark’s families still have traditional beliefs about marriage. At the bridal negotiations, family members admit to struggling to understand how two people could get married without knowing more about each other’s families and backgrounds, as they did in the old days when they sent someone to spy on a prospective wife. Yet, both families put their faith in Mark and Elizabeth to take a chance on the marriage. After negotiations, the two families celebrate together and Akoko has the opportunity to talk with her new grandson-in-law, Mark, laughing joyfully with him. Akoko and Maria have poured everything they have into Elizabeth and her cousin Owuor. With Owuor’s decision to become a priest, Elizabeth is the only one who will continue their family line, which is still very important to them. It is knowing that the family legacy is safe that finally allows Akoko to let go. That night, after the celebrations, she dies peacefully in her sleep.
The family depended on Akoko for so long as the matriarch of the family, and Maria and Elizabeth are distraught at her death. However, Maria has had much more experience with death and grief than her daughter, who finds it hard to truly accept that her grandmother is dead. With Akoko gone, Maria comforts her daughter just as Akoko did for Maria after her brother Obura died, guiding her to a place of acceptance over Akoko’s death. Maria reminds her daughter of her grandmother’s saying, “yesterday is not today and today is not tomorrow,” meaning every day is a chance to start fresh. Akoko modeled resilience throughout her life, and in the wake of her death, both Maria and Elizabeth draw on this lesson to continue on.
Peter Owuor finally becomes ordained as a priest; he is happy in his new role although he wishes his grandmother could have been there to see him. He officiates Mark and Elizabeth’s wedding and then the young couple go off to live in Nakuru. One day, Elizabeth wakes up with nausea and dizziness. Neither she nor Mark realize that she is pregnant and in trying to help her, Mark gives her anti-malaria pills that cause her to miscarry. Elizabeth forgives him, but resentment comes back after she has a hard time conceiving. The pressure and critiques from Mark’s mother about why after three years of marriage they have no children recall how Akoko’s mother-in-law reacted to her, demonstrating that Kenyan women still face pressure to bear children. However, Mark defends Elizabeth to his mother, earning her trust and helping repair relations between them. Soon after, Elizabeth becomes pregnant again, much to their mutual joy.
