Jan 1st 2019, 19:13

The story begins with the first railway journey of a train known as “The Lunatic express” with tracks that started from the shores of the Indian ocean until the shores of Lake Victoria in a country we now call Kenya. An accomplishment to those who constructed it but a blight on the land to the natives who live around the area. The narrative shifts between the present--centered on the character Rajan who works as the resident musician in Hotel Jakaranda and in the past of the men crucial to the construction of the railway; the Master and Babu, Rajan’s grandfather.
In a historical novel the characters could sometimes be written in a heavy-handed manner but the writer creates these personas with such complexity that it makes you want to know what happened next to the characters, it makes you sympathize with them. The novel also delves into the different cultural perspectives between the British, the Indians and the Africans. It is an engrossing read because of the way it is written, it can be funny and sarcastic at the same time. Even the ending is open to each reader's interpretation.

`This funny, perceptive and ambitious work of historical fiction by a Kenyan poet and novelist explores his country's colonial past and its legacy ... Kimani has done a game job managing the carpentry of this ambitious novel, bringing great skill to the task of deploying multiple story lines, huge leaps back and forth in time and the withholding and distribution of information ... I have never read a novel about [Kenya] that's so funny, so perceptive, so subversive and so sly.' New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice; `A rich tableau of layers and textures. The book has some brilliant moments of vivid and evocative writing.' Huffington Post; `In this racially charged dance of power, the railroad into the interior of the country becomes a journey into the hearts of men and women. It is a dance of love and hate and mixed motives that drive human actions and alter the course of history. Kimani's writing has the clarity of analytic prose and the lyrical tenderness of poetry.' Ngugi wa Thiong'o, author of Birth of a Dream Weaver; `A memorable family drama set against radical social changes in pre-independence Kenya.' Asian Review of Books; `Dance of the Jakaranda is a rare gem: a new story, a new voice, a new way of seeing the world. This is what a brilliant novel looks like.' Matt Johnson, author of Loving Day; `Kimani's descriptive and inventive prose recounts personal stories of love and tragedy within a context of racial hierarchies and the fallout of colonial rule ... Babu's story feels weighted by history in a way that will remind readers of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.' Booklist; `Kimani illustrates the discordant history of East Indians in Kenya through a fabulously complicated set of intriguing characters and events ... Highlighted by its exquisite voice, Kimani's novel is a standout debut.' Publishers' Weekly; `Lyrical and powerful ... Kimani weaves together a bitter, hurtful past and hopeful present in this rich tale of Kenyan history and culture, the railroad, and the men and women whose lives it profoundly affected.' Kirkus; `Destined to become one of the greats ...This is not hyperbole: it's a masterpiece.' The Gazette; `Kimani writes with such vivid detail.' Library Journal; `The novel has way more strengths than I can describe here, including the beauty of lyrical narration that combines irony, flashback, humour, allusions and inter-textual references... a gem of a story.' Daily Nation;100 `Kimani's descriptive and often smartly playful language, is a delight throughout...In our pandemic of fake news, this is sensible advice; we today might better seek important truths from storytellers like Kimani than our too often compliant and compromised mass media.' The Star; `A multi-racial nation-building tale.' Toronto Star; `A fascinating part of Kenya's history, real and imagined, is revealed and reclaimed by one of its own.' Minneapolis Star Tribune