Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #272811 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Synopsis
Sweeping in scope, both historically and geographically, Vassanji weaves a rich tapestry of vivid characters, real and imagined, in a Kenya poised between colonialism and independence. Vikram Lall, like his adopted country, inhabits an 'in-between world': between the pull of his ancestral home in India and the Kenya he loves passionately; between his tragic past in Africa and an unclear future in Canada; between escape from political terror and a seemingly inevitable return home ...a return that may cost him dearly. A master storyteller, Vassanji intertwines the political and the personal - the rise of the Mau Mau in the last days of imperialism looms large over a plot centring on two love stories and a deep friendship. The result is a sumptuous novel that brilliantly explores the tyranny of history and memory, and questions the individual's role and responsibility in lawless times.

Customer Reviews

Home is... where?
Vikram Lall, the narrator of this engrossing story, looks back over the last fifty years of his life. From the safety of his self-imposed exile in Canada, he takes the reader through a selection of pertinent years. The choices are years that were pivotal in his personal life and intimately linked in the historical development of his home country of Kenya. The passage of time allows him to describe the people and events in a dispassionate voice which affects the reader deeply. While not openly self-critical, he paints an honest and detailed portrait of himself. Addressing the reader directly at the outset, he asks us to form our opinion on whether or not his reputation as "one of Africa's most corrupt men, a cheat of monstrous and reptilian cunning" is justified. The result is a multi-layered novel of extraordinary depth, rich with memorable characters, dramatic action and a high level of authenticity in its representation of the environment and the realities of the time. Intimately familiar with cultural context - being from the same ethnic Indian-Kenyan background as his principal characters - as well as the political circumstances, Vassanji has created a panorama that seamlessly merges historical realities with his characters' private dramas in broad, yet precisely placed strokes.

Kenya's struggle for independence from Britain, spearheaded by the Mau Mau movement, brought danger to all ethnic groups. Young Vikram and his sister Deepa, while protected by their caring family, are pulled into the drama when violence hits close to home. The family's store is the centre of their lives: well connected not only within the Asian community, but also with regular British customers. The African Kenyans living around the Asian estate are tolerated rather than respected. Loyalty to the monarchy overrides any concerns about the growing ethnic conflicts. Their grandfather, one of the many Indian labourers brought to East Africa to lay down the railway tracks, had settled in this beautiful and potentially prosperous country. Their father only returned once to the Punjab to find a bride; Vikram never visited the country of his forebears. The children's close circle of friends transcend the racial divisions with British siblings, Bill and Annie, as well as Njoroge, son of the estate's African gardener. Their idyllic life sees the five full of fun and games, emotional ties growing that will influence the rest of their lives. Innocence comes to a sudden end: accusations of murder hit the black neighbourhood. Tensions and suspicions are on the rise. Njoroge goes into hiding after his grandfather is arrested. Having drawn us into the intimacy of his characters' existence, Vassanji's depiction of the events that follow leaves a deep resonance with the reader. Mau Mau rebels, known for their violence against white Kenyans are pursued by British and Kenyan police with equal force. In the hunt for any potential rebels innocent Africans are caught in the net of police brutality. Vassanji brings out the conflict's different perspectives in a fairly neutral way, yet the emotional tensions are palpable under the calm surface of the narrative.

With Independence in 1963, violence and conflict shifted but did not disappear as Kenyans of all ethnic backgrounds had to grapple with old and new challenges. Corruption and nepotism were integral part of the ruling elite which did little to disguise their machinations. While Vassanji's power brokers are fictional characters, some resemblance to the actual political scene is without doubt intended. The Asian Kenyan community has split loyalties: a growing number of them flee Kenya in response to the restrictions imposed on their economic activities and with acts of violence against them increasing. Others, like the Lall family, having always regarded Kenya as their home, take Kenyan nationality and congregate in Nairobi to adjust their life to the new realities. Conflicting emotions and loyalties are tested more than ever. Can Vikram's love for his rebellious uncle Mahesh survive the revelations of earlier acts of betrayal? Restrictive traditional mind-sets clash with the younger generation's ambitions and their determination to overcome racial and cultural differences and stereotypes. In Deepa, Vassanji exemplifies these tensions empathetically. She revolts against her family's and the community's poorly hidden racism, which remains pervasive in all ethnic groups sharing the country. Vikram and Njoroge are each entangled in the web of politics in their own way. Njoroge follows his vision and dreams. Vikram, on the other hand decides to take an easier route, going with the flow of the political system and not taking a stand. In the end, though, he becomes the victim of his inclinations and his hiding in Canada may not be a permanent solution to his circumstances. The author vividly conveys the complexities of that period through Vikram's musing on his actions at the time and his reaffirmation of his own identity and roots.

Vikram's question in the prologue will not be easily answered, yet deserves consideration and reflection. Very few authors, if any, from Vassanji's background or any other, familiar with East African history over the last sixty years, have been able to tackle the fundamental issues of that time with such depth of comprehension and sensitivity for the human tragedies it entailed. Beyond its specific historical and cultural context, Vassanji's novel is one of the most gripping, beautifully rendered story of human strengths and failures, deep emotions, perseverance and resilience. [Friederike Knabe]

A remarkable political history
This is quite possibly THE great modern Kenya novel; for anyone familiar with Kenya and who knows how awkward it has long been to write its various histories, Vassanji's description of great events and his portrayal of figures from Kenya's past and present in fictive narrative is a tour de force. Without an appreciation of the modern history of this beautiful country, much of the significance of this book is lost.

The East African Asian Story
The In Between World of Vikram Lal tells the story of Vikram, an East African Asian growing up in Kenya on the brink of its freedom. The story starts at the end, with Vikram in Canada reflecting on how he became known as the most corrupt man in Africa. But this is not a story of corruption, this is one of belonging, the in between world is one that the Diaspora inhabit. As a child caught up in the dreams of a new country we see Vikram making attempts at feeling an attachment to the land, he wishes that he had Masai family connections so he can feel a tie with the land. In the end though his side is chosen for him, his initial career takes him into politics where the plight of Indians living in Kenya is made clear to him. Here we witness the ugly side of the nationalism of countries in recent recipient of their freedom. We hear of business owned by Indians for generations taken over at a stroke by various politicians, Vikram due to his political connections is spared much of this but in the end after sucking him into their world of corruption the new African elites discard him when it serves them to do so.

Whilst the corruption is never justified by the end of the book we do understand with it and to a certain extent sympathise with Vikram. Vassanji sums of the plight of the East African Indian well, stuck in a country which they helped build (three Indian lives were lost for every mile of railway built) but a country in which they are no longer wanted. The story starts slow but soon becomes impossible to put down as we get ever more involved in the lives of the various characters. Aside from Vikram, we are introduced to Deepa, his sister whose struggle to marry whom she chooses at times threatens to tear her family apart. Mahesh, Vikram's uncle supports the Mau Mau in their fight for freedom with both weapons and money, yet his risks and struggles in the end also amount to nothing as he too is discarded by New Kenya and their lack of regard for the Indians. This a great book to read, and it serves as an excellent counterweight to some of the more nationalistic fiction to have emerged from Kenya, notably that of Ngugi. Yet even as a work of literature in its own right, the In Between World of Vikram Lal stands as a gem of book telling the story of a world that doesn't exist anymore.