Growing up in Kenya in the early twentieth century, the brothers Matu and Muthegi are raised according to customs that, they are told, have existed since the beginning of the world. But when the red' strangers come, sunburned Europeans who seek to colonize their homeland, the lives of the two Kikuyu tribesmen begin to change in dramatic new ways. Soon, their people are overwhelmed by unknown diseases that traditional magic seems powerless to control. And as the strangers move across the land, the tribe rapidly finds itself forced to obey foreign laws that seem at best bizarre, and that at worst entirely contradict the Kikuyu's own ancient ways, rituals and beliefs.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Elspeth Huxley (1907-1997) was the daughter of Major Josceline Grant of Njoro, Kenya where she spent most of her childhood. She was educated at the European School in Nairobi and at Reading University where she took a diploma in agriculture, and atCornell University. In 1929 she joined the Empire Marketing Board as a press officer and, following her marriage to Gervase Huxley in 1931, travelled widely with him in America, Africa and elsewhere.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book before you go!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Red Strangers (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Red Strangers offers an intriguing view of the colonization of East Africa. How puzzling it must have been to be "discovered" when your family has lived in the same place for generations! The unique and often humorous depiction of the white colonials is compelling. I found myself drawn into the voice and whether accurate or not, certainly offers a fresh and empathetic perspective. I read this book while on safari in Kenya and recommend it as a "must read" to any visitor to East Africa. Read it in conjunction with the classics - Out of Africa and the Flame Trees of Thika - the books fill in the blanks for one another.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Novel,
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This review is from: Red Strangers (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
This wonderful novel tells the story of the arrival of European settlers from the perspective of one clan of Kikuyu in Kenya. Brilliantly written, engaging, satisfying.
The first 40% of the book details the pre-contact life of the Kikuyu in great detail. It takes them through triumphs and tragedies and shows you much of their physical, social, and spiritual life. You get to know them well as well-drawn, interesting, individual characters. This sets the stage for the arrival of the "red strangers," sunburnt whites, and their baffling new "magics," laws, food, society. I've spent time in east Africa: the book rings true. You become completely at home [well, maybe excepting the circumcision ceremonies ...] with the Kikuyu. You do get to feel [in a way] how strange and powerful the whites seemed. Great book.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A different view,
This review is from: Red Strangers (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
In "Red Strangers," the reader is introduced to an African Kikuyu village. The people and their life are described in detail.In the early 20th century, Europeans started to settle in Kenya and the way of life that had served the Kikuyu for centuries was changed forever in a short time. In this book, everything is seen through the eyes of the Africans. It gives a different view of colonization.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
MUTHENGI was fourteen years old when he first saw a column of shining-skinned young Kikuyu warriors swinging along the forest's edge towards the plains, like a ripple of wind across a field of ripening grain, on the way to war. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
millet rains, red strangers, deep pinch, sweet potato tops, thirty goats, ruling generation, arum roots, ten goats, hide strips, senior elders, fat ram Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Benson Makuna, Post Office, Alliance High School, King George, Still Muthengi New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
MUTHENGI was fourteen years old when he first saw a column of shining-skinned young Kikuyu warriors swinging along the forest's edge towards the plains, like a ripple of wind across a field of ripening grain, on the way to war. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
millet rains, red strangers, deep pinch, sweet potato tops, thirty goats, ruling generation, arum roots, ten goats, hide strips, senior elders, fat ram Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Benson Makuna, Post Office, Alliance High School, King George, Still Muthengi New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
8
books
cite this book:
See all 8 books citing this book
- Colonial Strangers: Women Writing the End of the British Empire by Phyllis Lassner on 9 pages
- Elspeth Huxley: A Biography by C.S. Nicholls on 4 pages
- A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love by Richard Dawkins on page 223, page 228, and Back Matter
- A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love by Richard Dawkins on page 223, page 228, and Back Matter
- Africa and Its Significant Others: Forty Years of Intercultural Entanglement (Thamyris Intersecting 11) (Thamyris/Intersecting: Place, Sex & Race) by Frans-Willem Korsten on page 47, and page 56
See all 8 books citing this book
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