Kenyan writer Andrew Maina launched his debut novel, My Husband, My Abductor, on April 25, presenting a work of historical fiction that explores the intersections of abduction, forced marriage and cultural displacement between Maasai and Gĩkũyũ communities.
The novel centres on Sakunda, a 14-year-old Maasai girl abducted during a raid in which relatives are killed, livestock stolen and her settlement burned. Renamed Nyokabi in the land of her captors, she navigates an alien world while resolving to marry the one man capable of returning her to her birthplace, Njamba, the very warrior captain who led her abduction. Their eventual marriage sets in motion a journey home that is cut short when a prior dowry claim resurfaces, forcing Njamba to return alone, only to find his cattle dead and his position untenable. Sakunda escapes back to the man and the land she has come to call her own.
Speaking at the launch, Maina said the novel had its origins in research he had undertaken for a biography of a prominent colonial-era chief, a project that stalled but left him captivated by the chief’s early encounters with Maasai territory. He credited the book’s eventual completion in part to personal hardship, including the collapse of a business he had run for 15 years.
“This is a story about vulnerability, resilience and the desire to climb out of some of the undesirable holes we find ourselves in,” Maina said at the launch, adding that the novel was conceived as an alternative vehicle for themes more commonly addressed in self-help literature.
The manuscript was introduced by Professor Wangari Mwai, who also wrote its foreword. Maina acknowledged research assistance from individuals with knowledge of Maasai customs and the Gĩkũyũ historical site at Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga.
My Husband, My Abductor is Maina’s first novel.
