DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR A Childhood Memoir

Hakeem Kae-Kazim performs this childhood memoir with a silky voice that draws listeners into its account of life in Kenya under British rule. Born in 1938, wa’Thiong’o weaves together stories of his own life with tales of Kenya from the 1890s to the mid-1950s, when his story ends with the Mau Mau revolt and his entrance into high school. Each vignette is read steadily, easily, seamlessly in Kae-Kazim’s magical bass tones. Life in rural Kenya in an extended polygamous family is told from a child’s viewpoint in the words of a gifted, mature storyteller. Kae-Kazim’s mellifluous voice tells of a boy who marvels at the world around him. The most moving scene recounts wa’ Thiong’o’s first donning of British shorts and shirt on his first day of school. Musical-sounding words deliver reminiscences that wind back and forth in time, with the telling ending all too soon. M.B.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2012]