COMING FOR AMERICA: THE ORIGIN

This first installment of Mushenye’s saga chronicles the trials and tribulations of a Luhya boy living in western Kenya and struggling to find his place in the world.

The narrative begins with shockingly immersive sequences that readers will not soon forget, if ever: A superstitious mother wants to cure her son Andayi of stuttering, so she hires a medicine man with alleged magic powers to “trim” his uvula. The surgery is as brutal as it is unsanitary—done with a bamboo stick with razor blades attached and no anesthesia—and the boy is lucky to survive. (“The moment he left me lying still, I started to breathe out slowly, desperately wishing and waiting for the searing pain to ease. It took a protracted interval to subdue the agony before I could even think of moving a muscle.”) The horrific incident pales, however, next to an even more traumatic experience soon thereafter. When Andayi’s older brother, Rono, leaves for a month-long ritualized retreat in a sacred forest that will supposedly make him a man, Andayi tricks his mother and secretly follows the group of boys Rono is with deep into the wilderness. He is eventually caught and forced to undergo the generations-long rite that will make him a man: circumcision. “As soon as I caught sight of the bloody knife at work on [my brother’s] bleeding rocket, the reality of what I was about to experience hit me like a bolt of lightning. My eyes shuddered with instant shock and terror. The rush of adrenaline was so sudden that they nearly popped out. As I struggled to comprehend the grisly torment, my brain sought to reboot and believe what I saw, but it didn’t work.” Surviving the “rocket-sculpting ritual,” as well as a month of revelatory education from adult mentors, makes Andayi a different person when he returns to his village—but he is still deeply flawed, embracing childish attitudes and behaviors like bullying, lying, and blaming others for his own inadequacies. When he flunks out of high school, he is faced with some troubling realizations—without the opportunities provided by a higher education, his future holds little promise. With his mother’s help, he reassesses his life and vows to, somehow, further his education in the land of plenty. (“I had no money and didn’t even know where America was.”)

There’s a genuineness, authenticity, and refreshing candor to Mushenye’s writing. The Kenyan-born novelist’s meticulous description of Luhya culture—its traditions and superstitions—is an undeniable strength, as is his main character’s relentless self-analysis and self-reflection. His story is a profound coming-of-age tale replete with numerous tidbits of wisdom along the way: “Patience is bitter, but the fruit is sweet. If you stretch your imagination beyond what you know or have seen, you will come across new opportunities.” The novel’s chief failing is its lack of a satisfying conclusion. The end of the book is more of a respite, a stopping point that sets up the second installment well but leaves readers hanging.

An eye-opening chronicle of one man’s harrowing journey of self-discovery powered by perseverance, courage, and hope.