The Book of Secrets

I read this after having lived in East Africa for a few years. It remains one of my all time favourites. Do yourself a favour and read it.

The author managed to write a novel that reads like a diary, a fascinating history oh Kenya and Tanzania from 1912 until 1988. He starts with Alfred Corbin who represents the British empire as ADC in a tiny Kenian town near the border to Tanganyika. The town had been founded by immigrants from India, who had come to East Africa in the second half of the 19th century. They became traders and, over the generations, some of them prospered. They lived through two world wars, married within their community, lived within their faith - and did not mix with the indigenous population. When independence came in the 1960s, they were destroyed by the new native powers.Thus the author gives us the history of the Indian settlements, practically from their beginning to their aslmost destruction. His main characters shift from Corbin, to the Indian shopkeeper Pipa and his family, to the expatriate Englishman Gregory, destroyed by the new nation. There is hardly a mention of the native Africans.Vassanji gives us a fascinating history of the people that Kenya, to this day, neglects and despises. I am very glad that this book was written to resurrect the Indian immigrant, whose trading really built these nations commercially.

A beautiful novel about how all the events in this planet are connected whether you are aware of it or not. The characters are forced by the circumstances that surround them to be involved in situations which in principle do not concern them (A lot of Indians or Massais could not care less if the Germans defeated the British in World War I or viceversa but they have to fight in a conflict without a clue of the reasons behind it). But for the main characters of the novel, such unseen force is the same one that will lead them to explore aspects of their life which they did not even know that existed. The perfect example is how Pipa found his wife and the subsequent birth of a son who will follow its roots eventhough he is not aware of them.Our existence is fun, tragic, confusing, arbitrary, ambiguous, etc. and for the same token many aspects of this novel follow the same pattern. The most important ones are the many unfinished events, which by the simple force of inertia find an opportunity that will make sense at least for someone, later on.The author seems to remind us that life will always surprise us. It is simply to ample for anyone to imagine all the possible outcomes.

I read this book as a book report book for my school.. I love this book! It is beautifully written, and the story is just...sort of like a journey through the past, through "the book of secrets." .. I had that beautiful "sigh" feeling after I finished reading this book.. it's just really awesome!

It is not only my facination with Africa that made this book special. Vassanji really makes his characters come out of the book, inprints them in your head so they become so real you end up imagining they are your own personal friends. Haven't read a book I enjoyed so much in a long long time. when it came to an end, I wanted more. I really recomend this book to everyone, whatever their reading interest may be. This book will not dissapoint them.