Summary
Elizabeth and Mark’s first children are twins, Veronica (Vera) and Rebecca (Becky). Each sister has a very distinct personality. From the beginning, Vera is motivated and in a hurry, learning to crawl and walk months before her sister. Becky is a pretty child whom everyone finds irresistible, but is content to move at her own pace. Unrest from Kenya’s independence movement prompts Elizabeth to move back to Aluor with the twins and their new son Aoro, leaving Mark in the city. Mark becomes very lonely with his family gone; he turns to drinking and finds a girlfriend who moves in with him. After she lies to him that she’s pregnant, Mark comes to his senses, breaks up with her and goes to visit Elizabeth and the children. When he arrives, Elizabeth questions why he hadn’t responded to any of her letters during their six months apart. Mark feels ashamed but cannot admit the truth. In the end, Elizabeth decides to move back to the city and although she hears rumors of his infidelity, she decides not to say anything.
Kenya earns its independence in 1963 and there’s a sense of hope among Kenyans. Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first president. Many white people leave the country, fearing violence. There’s a rush to fill all the newly vacant positions, but many Kenyans lack the needed education to fill them. Mark is promoted to manager and the family moves into a bigger house. At this point, Mark and Elizabeth have seven children: Vera, Becky, Aoro, Tony, another set of twins (Opiyo and Odongo), and Mary. Vera excels in school, working extremely hard, while Becky, used to getting what she wants because of her beauty, only applies herself minimally to get by in school. Vera loves her sister Becky deeply and is fiercely loyal to her; however, that affection is not reciprocated, although Becky hides her dislike. When Vera tests into the top National School for girls she refuses to go without Becky, and in the end the two sisters end up at Riverside High School, a local boarding school.
Aoro and Tony follow Vera and Becky in birth order. Aoro is confident, curious, and bright, though he has a knack for getting in trouble. Tony is calmer, determined, and fearless; he looks up to his older brother. One day, Aoro and Tony go out to the river with their younger brothers, Odongo and Opiyo. While the older boys are fishing, the twins run off and Odongo ends up falling into the river. Aoro and Tony jump in to save Odongo from drowning. Coming home soaking wet, they are questioned by their parents and the twins lie saying their older brother pressured them into going to the river. After getting punished, Aoro and Tony vow to avoid spending time with their younger brothers. One night, Tony wakes up in extreme pain. After being rushed to the hospital, the doctors diagnose him with appendicitis and he undergoes surgery. Aoro meanwhile stays at home, anxious for his brother. He goes to alert his sisters; Vera is worried, while Becky at sixteen has become more self-centered and is bored by the news.
Aoro is fascinated by his brother’s surgery, capturing and operating on a frog to see what it’s like. Uncle Peter comes to visit the family, announcing that he is going to be ordained as a bishop. Tony is especially intrigued by Mass and the mysteries of the church and talks endlessly with his uncle. Mark worries that one day he might have to “give [Tony] up” to the Church. Elizabeth’s mother, Maria, is aging, and it is decided that the twins Opiyo and Odongo will be sent to live with her at the mission in Aluor, both so she has company and for them to learn more self-sufficiency. Aoro is invited to attend one of the best schools in the country, however, once there he keeps getting into disciplinary trouble and eventually is suspended and sent home. His parents are furious, and Mark decides to teach him a lesson. He announces to all the children that while they are in school he will provide for them, however, Aoro is old enough now to take care of himself so the following day he will have to go out and find a job so that he can provide for himself. The next day, Aoro goes out to try and find a job and realizes he has no idea how to earn money. Coming home that night, there is no table set for him and he goes to bed hungry. The next day, having not eaten in thirty-six hours, he goes to his father and pleads for forgiveness, promising that he will work hard from now on before passing out from lack of food. His father pours water on him to wake him up and Aoro returns to school with a newfound focus.
Elizabeth’s final pregnancy is a dangerous one. Doctors warn that the pregnancy could cost Elizabeth her life and recommend she get an abortion. However, Elizabeth is determined and makes the decision to be hospitalized for the last month and a half of her pregnancy. When she gives birth, the baby is so skinny Elizabeth baptizes her immediately, fearing she will die. Defying expectations, Mary grows into a healthy girl and is her father’s favorite child.
In 1972, Vera, Becky, and Tony are all studying for exams. Vera, now somewhat disenchanted by her sister Becky, is determined to reapply to the school she gave up going to in order to stay with her sister. Tony wants to attend the same school as his older brother Aoro, and Becky is beginning to realize the importance of school. Tensions run high, and one night all the ill will building up between Vera and Becky boils over. The sisters yell at each other, hurling insults, and their relationship is never the same after. Vera and Tony both do well on their exams and leave for their respective schools. Becky wants to get a job as a flight attendant, but her father refuses, worried that his young, beautiful daughter will be exposed to all types of predatory men. One day, a telegram arrives that Maria is very sick. Mark and Elizabeth rush to Aluor, and Elizabeth is consumed with guilt that she has not visited her mother enough. When they finally arrive Maria is in the hospital, in a coma after having suffered a massive stroke. Elizabeth stays by her mother’s bedside all night. Maria dies in the morning, without having woken up. Elizabeth mourns her mother’s passing.
The twin boys, now eleven, move back home after their grandmother’s death. Vera, now nineteen, is no longer a gangly teenager and boys begin to take notice. Tommy Muhambe, who is studying to become a veterinarian at university, is particularly taken with Vera and asks her to the movies. Mark has strict rules against dating, but Vera decides to ask his permission. All her siblings watch, slightly awed by her audacity. Mark is resistant but Elizabeth convinces her husband that it is an inevitable part of the children growing up. One morning, Vera wakes up to a note from Becky informing her that she’s run away to live with friends in Nairobi and become a flight attendant. It falls on Vera to tell her parents.
Vera heads off to university where all the students are enjoying the freedom of being away from home. She and Tommy continue dating and after three years he asks her to marry him. Vera cares deeply about him but cannot bring herself to say yes, feeling that she is not ready to marry. Feeling lonely and confused, Vera decides to look for Becky who she has not seen since she ran away. Thinking she might find something out at the airport, Vera heads there and runs into her sister working at Kenya Airways. The sisters begin to catch up, Becky is fast-talking and has modern views on dating and men. They head to Becky’s apartment and Vera is shocked by how expensive it is. Becky reveals that she is engaged to a Canadian pilot and she has not gone home because she is nervous about what the family will say. Vera tries to convince Becky that it is her duty to tell their parents. She worries Becky has not thought about how ostracized she will be for marrying a white man, and doubts whether her sister really loves him or is marrying him for his money and the lifestyle he can provide her. Vera meets John, Becky’s fiance, and they get along well. After Vera leaves, John and Becky discuss the idea of going to her parents. John agrees with Vera: he wants to do things properly and respect tradition even though they are breaking taboos by having an interracial marriage. Eventually, Becky agrees.
Vera returns to the university and talks to her roommate, Mary-Anne, about Tommy and her sister Becky. She admits that maybe her sister has become warmer and less self-centered. The next day Vera and her roommate go to Sunday Mass and Vera reflects that she knows very little about the Catholic faith even though she’s been practicing for twenty-three years. The following week, Mary-Anne brings Vera to a religious meeting led by a Catholic group called Opus Dei, where the priest talks about how many Catholics simply go through the motions of religion rather than letting their faith permeate their life. Leaving the service, Vera comes away energized by the idea of religious enlightenment and dives into learning more with the same passion she has in every aspect of her life.
Analysis
Mark and Elizabeth begin their family while Kenya is pushing for independence. The Mau Mau freedom fighters, from the Kikuyu tribe, spearhead the nationalist movement in the country, fighting for independence from the British. While Mark and Elizabeth are not directly involved, the backlash from the British and ensuing violence affects their decisions as a family, prompting Elizabeth to briefly move with their young children back to the mission in Aluor where it’s safer. By the time Kenya gains its independence in 1963, Mark and Elizabeth have seven children.
Mark and Elizabeth are both highly educated, and at a time when the country needs more educated individuals to fill positions previously held by the British, they make sure that there is a strong emphasis on education in their household for all their children, both sons and daughters. Whereas Elizabeth was considered unusual in her day, the shifting ideas around gender roles mean that her daughters are part of a new generation of women pursuing an education. Another sign of change in their household is that Mark sometimes helps out at home with the children. Although he is berated by his friends, who say that no “full blooded African man” would do that, he recognizes how overworked his wife is with seven children and a full-time teaching job, and ignores the jabs from his friends.
Since they were babies, Vera and Becky have had completely distinct personalities, and the differences only become more pronounced as they grow older. Becky is extremely beautiful which causes her to be self-centered and complacent since she can easily get what she wants, and she resents her sister Vera who is a star in school and is constantly receiving accolades and praise from their parents.
Aoro, the eldest son, excels in school and although his mother feels he does not apply himself as diligently as he could, he gets into one of the top high schools in the country. Tony, his younger brother, misses his brother, who was his closest companion, and is determined to go to the same school in two years when he’s of age. Aoro’s excitement wears off quickly as he continues to get in trouble for his behavior and eventually is sent home with a suspension. Furious at his son, Mark decides to teach him a lesson. If Aoro won’t apply himself in school, he must start work and provide for himself by moving out of his parents' house within a month. Aoro tries and fails to find a job and realizes how expensive living without his parents' support would be. He comes home, hungry and chastened, begging his father for a second chance. In the battle of wills between father and son, Mark earns his son’s respect and fear. The lesson has an impact on all the children, reinforcing their parents’ high expectations for all their children.
Mark has a particular soft spot for their youngest daughter, Mary, who nearly died in what for Elizabeth was a dangerous pregnancy and birth. He spoils her, to the mild frustration of his other children. Leading up to highly stressful exams, Becky tries to take out her anxieties on her youngest sister Mary and Vera steps in, leading to a blow-up. Becky accuses Vera of being jealous of her and never liking her, while Vera blames her sister for ruining her chances at going to the top school, the fight is broken up by their mother but their relationship is never as close afterward. Exams come back and Becky who craves independence from her parents tries to convince her father that she’s ready to work. When he refuses, insisting she continue with school, she remembers how he punished Aoro and concedes, vowing to bide her time. With Vera, Becky, Aoro, and Tony now away at school, Elizabeth feels the emptiness in the house and laments the children growing up.
When the letter arrives saying that Maria, Elizabeth's mother, is sick, Mark and Elizabeth rush to see her. Elizabeth recalls how tenderly Maria cared for her own mother, Akoko, when she was sick, and hopes she can do the same for her mother. Feeling helpless on the long car ride, she berates herself for not visiting her mother more frequently. As Maria’s only daughter, Elizabeth has no other siblings to share this responsibility with, a situation only exacerbated by the fact that Maria left her ancestral home to live in the mission so long ago and does not have her extended family around her. Elizabeth arrives in time to see her mother, watching over Maria as she passes away. Despite being forty-three years old, Elizabeth feels the loneliness of realizing she’s an orphan. Akoko and Maria, the two women who raised Elizabeth, were both in their own ways such strong examples of empowered women and they passed this on to Elizabeth. At Maria’s passing, the motif of the river as the family bloodline repeats. With Akoko and Maria gone, it now falls to Elizabeth to continue to guide the family, and through having so many children she ensures the family legacy for years to come.
Ideas on marriage and dating are slowly changing, yet Mark is still not ready when Vera asks to go on a date with Tommy. Initially, Mark takes issue with the fact that Tommy is Luhya rather than Luo, reflecting how tribal affiliation still remains of social importance despite all the ways society has transformed. Becky is jealous of the attention her sister is receiving from men since she is used to being the only one who is noticed for her looks. When she finally decides to run away and become a flight attendant, she writes of always feeling like an outsider and that no one in the family will miss her. On reading her sister's letter, Vera regrets having been too proud to reconcile with Becky, who she acknowledges had to live with Vera being superior to her in everything but looks.
At university, Vera begins to question what she truly believes about Catholicism, realizing that she continues to go to Mass every Sunday as a habit rather than out of a sense of faith. Vera and Tommy continue dating for three years. Vera is friendly toward and enjoys his company, but when Tommy proposes Vera realizes she is not ready to marry. She cares about him and feels she should say yes because he is such a good man, but in the end she cannot. Feeling a loss of innocence at realizing that, despite her good intentions, she hurt Tommy, Vera decides to track down her sister. Becky is more cosmopolitan than her sister in her views on dating and men; she has embraced her freedom and admits to still liking the finer things in life. She offers Vera advice on how and when to break up with a man and is surprised by her sister's more traditional views on dating.
In their reunion, Becky and Vera are able to be honest with one another about the tensions both felt at constantly comparing themselves to one another growing up and the jealousy it created. Despite the jealousy, Becky admires her sister, which Becky’s fiance John reveals when he mentions how often and glowingly Becky talks of Vera. Already feeling like she was never enough, Becky worries about the disapproval she will face from her parents for choosing to marry a white, Canadian man, and because of this has avoided going home. Colonialism has created deep racial divisions in society, and interracial marriage is taboo. Vera warns her sister of the ostracism they will face, that people will presume Becky only married John for his money. Becky feels judged by her sister, that she has been designated the “bad” daughter in their family and no one would believe that although she does like the lifestyle he provides she truly does love John and wants to marry him. Vera leaves and Becky and John continue discussing the idea of going home.
Vera continues exploring the idea of religion and spirituality. Shaken by her interactions with Tommy and Becky, Vera is feeling more introspective. Having consistently done what was expected of her, she admits to herself that she has gone through the motions of being Catholic without knowing anything about the religion. She begins in earnest to learn more about the religion and explore her spirituality.
In Part 3 there is a distinct shift to a modern and changing Kenya. Elizabeth and Mark live in Nakuru city where the transformation is felt even more. The theme of change is mirrored in the style of the novel. In Parts 1 and 2, Ogola incorporated many Luo words and sayings into the prose. With the Luo people’s emphasis on tradition, respect, and being polite, they had a more long-winded and formal way of speaking, using idioms and frequent metaphors and similes. In the second half of the novel, the more direct narration and dialogue reflect a more modern and fast-paced style of life.
