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Join us on Thursday at 3PM to chat about the book!

The Village Priest

by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

This week we are reading 'The Village Priest' by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. The story revolves around a local Village Priest called Joshua from the village of Makuyu in Kenya. The Village is in a Draught and Joshua and the local Rain-Maker find themselves in competition to the the recognised spiritual leader of the village. Unfortunately for Joshua, a successful sacrifice under the local Mugumo tree brings the rain almost on cue bringing about a shaking of Joshua’s faith in his Christian God. 

This interesting story also features a brief cameo from none other than the famous Christian missionary and explorer 'Dr David Livingstone', this gives us a rough time setting of about the 1800s when the Christian missionaries where making their way through Africa. 

The story brings up themes of Faith and spirituality but also personal commitment and the idea of valuing local traditions and the confrontation of older spiritual values and cultures vs a 'New Faith'.

This story is from the book 'Secret Lives and other Stories' by Nugugi wa Thiong'o, part two: 'Fighters and Martyrs'.

About the Author

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938. is a Kenyan writer and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. 

His debut novel, Weep Not, Child, was published in May 1964, becoming the first novel in English to be published by a writer from East Africa. Later that year, having won a scholarship to the University of Leeds to study for an MA, Ngũgĩ travelled to England, where he was when his second novel, The River Between, came out in 1965. The River Between, which has as its background the Mau Mau Uprising, and described an unhappy romance between Christians and non-Christians, was previously on Kenya's national secondary school syllabus.

His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright, is translated into 94 languages from around the world.

What is the book club?

Join us every week for a book club, each week we will read a new short story of part of a larger book, the books will be made available as an audio book and we will meet as a group via zoom to chat about the story. All are welcome, hope to see you there. 

How to join the club to chat

The zoom link to join will apear above on this page at 3PM on Thursday. To join you will need a phone/tablet or laptop with a built in camera and microphone (most modern devices come with this) you may need to download the zoom app onto your phone if you are using a phone to join.

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