Petals of Blood

I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did read Ngugi wa Thiongo's's book "Petals of Blood" (1977), by the beach in Cyprus in July 2014. It is the story of how an inland village in Kenya becomes part of the international market economy by way of colonialism, through the experiences of the more educated locals. Although both the oppressed and the oppressors are Africans,  parts are strangely reminiscent of the "Grapes of Wrath", and infused with a dreamy, Latin American sensibility. This makes it overlong and repetitive, though much of the writing is quite fine. I did not find the evangelical conversions at the end credible, though to be fair Melachi notes that effective responses to the capitalist system are so far difficult to find.