this kinda dragged for me tbh...and not entirely because of the book. the narrator didn't work for me. couldnt get into the book as a result but i did listen to around 60% (even if i kept drifting off). but this was a very important book that dealt with a lot of interesting themes - sexism, especially in the 1950s, colonialism, friendship...wambui was a strong character who was very easy to root for, and it was fun to see representation of a Black girl in math! loved learning about kenyan culture but i couldnt finish because the narrator really didn't work for me.

I will premise this review with, normally, Historial Fiction as my go-to genre. I enjoy reading books about different cultures and seeing how the characters rise above their trials and tribulations, especially when war or civil war is at the story's core. Still, Ndirangu Githaiga's "The People of the Ostrich Mountain" offers a three-star reading experience, marked by a blend of vivid descriptions of the Kenyan countryside and cultural intricacies, alongside challenges in pacing and narration.

While Githaiga excels in painting a detailed and captivating picture of the Ostrich People's world, the narrative's length and occasional long-windedness may deter some readers. The timeline's complexity can be confusing, leaving readers uncertain about their place in the story and impacting the overall engagement.

The audiobook's narration, handled by Lee Goettl, presents a mismatch in tone for some listeners. Goettl's delivery, reminiscent of middle-grade or young adult storytelling, feels out of sync with the adult fiction genre. This stylistic choice may hinder the immersive experience for those expecting a more mature narrative voice.

Despite these challenges, the novel's redeeming qualities lie in its picturesque depictions of the Kenyan countryside and the cultural richness of the Ostrich People. Githaiga's ability to transport readers into a vibrant and unique setting is commendable, offering a glimpse into the diverse tapestry of Kenyan life.

In summary, "The People of the Ostrich Mountain" earns a three-star rating for its well-crafted descriptions and cultural insights, albeit hindered by pacing issues, timeline confusion, and a narrative tone that may not align with all readers' expectations. While the story fell short for this reviewer, those appreciating rich cultural depictions and descriptive prose may still find elements to enjoy in Githaiga's narrative.

Thank you to NetGalley and the following publishers, Bon Esprite Books, The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and Members Audiobooks, for the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is set in the 1950’s during the Mau Mau war in Kenya, where a 14 year old girl called Wambũi has to leave her village and join a prestigious boarding school. It follows her journey and how a teacher recognises her mathematical ability and tries to make this shine especially when obstacles arise.

To start with I was really interested in this story but midway through, I found it a bit boring which made it hard to finish the book. I still carried on because I wanted to give the author a chance but I still found it uninspiring.

I found the narrator quite hard to understand and his voice didn’t suit the style of writing.

This was an absolutely amazing story. I loved the writing style and Adored Wambúi. I don’t really think that calling it a story that “spans generations” is a great way to describe it. This really is Wambúi’s story. She’s the only character that felt like we were in the moment with her. Others, especially Ray, felt more like someone catching me up on what he’s been up to, similar to a Christmas card/email. I really can’t take Eileen seriously. I think there should be room to talk on the nuances of how someone that was part of an overall bad system being the “good one” that made the lives of the people she worked with pleasant. But to compare her experience with those of POC living under white supremacy is dismissing her active participation in these white supremacist systems. In the book she literally says “Had they stood outside an Uchumi Supermarket, pointing at her and identifying her as a foreigner who was taking over their country?”. Like, ma’am, that’s exactly what you’re doing.

I received a galley of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect the objectivity of my review.

The People of Ostrich Mountain is a book set in Kenya that follows a young math prodigy named Wambui as she pursues a career in teaching, her son Ray as he pursues an education in America, and her friend Eileen who returns to England after 40 years spent in Kenya.

I really loved that this book is set in Kenya. I haven’t found many books set there, so it was nice to read about Kenyan culture and history.

Wambui was also a really interesting character. I love how dedicated she was to her education and pursuing a teaching career. It’s great seeing a woman portrayed as being good at math. She’s a character young girls can look up to.

I do wish a bit more of the history around the Mau Mau revolution was included. I expected it to be a bigger part of the story, but it was more just a reference.

All in all, if you like historical fiction, strong female characters, and multi-generational stories, you’ll likely enjoy this one.

Audiobook narration: I enjoyed the narration of this story. The narrator was easy to understand and really brought the story to life.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The story mainly follows Wambũi, her family, and the people around her. The story begins in 1950s Kenya and follows the characters forward. There are many chapters from different points of view. The focus was on the everyday with mentions about the historic events that were happening around the characters.
While I thought the story was interesting, it sometimes became difficult to follow. Part of the reason was that there were so many people that had chapters from their view. This made it feel like there was no real focus to the book. I think the stories would have been better served as separate books or short stories that focused on the different characters.
A second issue I had was the narrator for the audiobook. His voice and reading style took away and distracted from the story, making it even more difficult to focus on what was happening.

Wambũi is a teenager from Kenya who has a special talent for math, she meets up with a teacher that encourages her skill and her willingness to learn more. But, Kenya isn't the place or time for someone like Wambui to strive. The story takes the reader on her journey to find her place in the world. Author did a great job taking the reader on this journey and the narrator did a great job conveying this message.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for this copy of this Audiobook and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The People of the Ostrich Mountain by Ndirangu Githaiga
Fourteen-year-old Wambũi, lives on the foothills of Mt. Kenya. She attends the white man's school and gets an education. Even with the Mau Mau war, Wambui excels and gains admission to a prestigious all-girls school where she meets Eileen Atwood - a mathematics teacher who discovers Wambui's unique abilities in the subject. Spanning five decades, The People of the Ostrich Mountain is a tale of friendship, education, colonization, family ties, struggles of immigrants, racism, and loyalty.

First, a white man has no business narrating this book. I don't understand why but it just doesn't make sense that a white male voice told this Kenyan story.

Let's move on to the critical part, the first part of this book is excellent. Wambui's story set the book in the right direction. However, the direction changed after Wambui's story abruptly ended. The change in direction by the author made it difficult to like the new characters and appreciate their journey. The storytelling is okay and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read Kenya Literature. I was hoping the author would explore the Mau Mau War, but that didn't happen exactly how I expected.

The language is beautiful, and especially the description of Kenya, its people, and its culture is well done. The author highlights gender disparity, colonization, the ugly and beautiful side of the missionaries, racism, and the struggles of an immigrant in America. Familial ties, friendship, loyalties, and cultural aspects are woven beautifully into the narration.
Unfortunately, despite the beautiful and varied themes, this novel did not work quite well for me. It is unnecessarily lengthy and marred by abrupt transitions. The jump in timelines is huge and disjointed.
Though there are various subplots and backstories of many minor characters, they seem like just fillers and are not engaging enough. Till about 40% of the book, the story revolves around Wambũi, her village, atrocities of the police, the Mau Mau rebellion, etc. And suddenly, the story moves in a different direction and she is missing for a long time.
The story drags initially and suddenly picks up the pace when the focus shifts from Wambũi to Ray. But a large part of his life is not shared and we are unaware of the years between his early years and medical school.
The blurb is kind of misleading. It doesn’t give much detail about the British-Kenyan conflict or the Mau Mau rebellion.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Lee Goettl. This is the first ever audiobook I’ve heard and I have no yardstick to measure it against. I was looking forward to audiobooks, but this one proved to be a disappointing experience.

Even though the male narrator modulates his voice according to the speaker — adult male, young girl, woman, the end result was unpleasant to the ears. Also, his accent remains the same irrespective of the nationality of the speakers. Kenyans, Americans, and British—they all sound the same.

I was sucked into this book immediately and expected it to be my first five star read of the year. It starts strong with there being an implication of impending violence but aside from one little mention it completely skipped the war between the British and the Mau Mau. The description makes it seem like all these events are happening concurrently when really the book has large time jumps and spans 50+ years. It's still a great read and I loved the little synchronicities that tied everything back together, but I think the description was misleading.

I have to confess to feeling a little disappointed with this novel. As I listened to audiobook I was also somewhat disappointed with the narrator being a male American. I would have thought that a more authentic voice (eg a Kenyan female) might have been more appropriate and sounded much better.

That said I did get used to the narrator after a while but the storyline wasn't what I was expecting. I was certainly anticipating more regarding the Mau Mau uprising, which was glossed over.

What we do have is an interesting book about a family led by the remarkable Wambui, a maths genius who has to give up on her dream due to her family falling on harder times (due to the uprising). Wambui makes the most of her opportunities however and we follow her through school, college, marriage and beyond.

There are some very interesting characters involved in the story, not least of which is the single-minded teacher who takes Wambui under her wing.

The novel itself explores such themes as prejudice, racism, family, ambition, love and belonging.

If you want a family saga with a twist then this book is for you. It certainly kept my interest despite the few niggles I've already mentioned. It is engaging, interesting and informative.

In the 1950s, while war breaks out in the foothills of Mt. Kenya, Wambũi is a 14-year-old girl leaving her home to attend boarding school several hours away by train. Wambũi’s incredible mathematical talent catches the eye of her teacher, Eileen Atwood, and the two start a lifelong friendship while Eileen tries to get Wambũi to make the most of her mathematical skills. Unfortunately, 1950s Kenya isn’t kind to female academics, and Wambũi has to look for ways to use her skills outside academia. The story continues to follow Wambũi, her son, and Eileen through the decades to come.

Githaiga did a fabulous job setting this fictional story in the real-life climate of 1950s and on Kenya; I liked learning about this history that is not usually covered in fictional stories. My favorite part of the book was Wambũi’s story. I also liked Eileen’s story at the end; the story line about Wambũi’s son didn’t interest me quite as much. As a math lover, I must admit that I was disappointed we didn’t get a chance to see Wambũi’s full potential with her math skills, but the plot about having to leave school to help her family was very real to life for a majority of people. Overall, I enjoyed this story and would recommend it!

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book, the story is beautiful. However I did find it hard to get into and I was sometimes lost and having to go back. This is not to do with the story but rather the audiobook reading itself.

I liked this one, but had a hard time getting into it as an audiobook version. I am a bit of a picky listener, so I think that many people would like this book if they enjoy audiobooks. I think I would like to read it in the future. Thanks to Netgalley and the audiobook publisher for giving me the chance to try out this book.

This is a highly recommended, beautifully written story about a family trying to survive in Kenya.
The story takes off from the beginning and pulls you in. You become emotionally involved with the characters This historical fiction book about Kenya is educational as well as entertaining. Living in Kenya in the 1950's is difficult no matter which side you are on. The characters in the book are well developed and they have to overcome issues that are at times enormous. Some of the characters you come to know beat the odds and some do not.
The only down side to the book was there are things in the story that are important when they start but the completion is not always included in the story. I would still like to know what the outcome was to the family.

I enjoyed the book.i was a little on the slow side that is why I gave it 4 stars. I loved the main women character and her personality

This was a great and interesting audiobook that broadened my view of what other people go through I would recommend it to everyone as I think this is something that everyone needs to listen to so they can put their problems and life into perspective. I loved the main female lead who was sure of herself and confident following her dreams as they morph and change as her life and wants change as she gets older as I don't think this is spoken about very often.
The writing style is very emotive and draws you in, I will be reading more from this author and I would highly recommend it!!

I enjoyed listening to this book. This was a family saga that started with Wambui's life story and eventually progressed to following her son's For me, it sometimes jumped between Wambui and her son suddenly and this interrupted the flow of the narrative. I would have liked more depth and knowledge of every-day life in Keny at the start of the novel, and would have liked to have seen this developed more.
In saying that, the stopry was one that I felt compelled to come back to and to continue with. It was heart warming and the individual stores throughout the book were tied together nicely at the end. I felt myself having to hold back the emotion at the conclusion of the book.

Incredibly heartwarming story!

The family saga with a beautiful massage.

I am stun. I definitely wasn't expecting to get so attached to the characters and their story. Beginning was difficult for me because I couldn't get into the story and yet... after first few chapters I wasn't able to put it down!

I loved the setting of Kenya (which is not a popular thing) and how the author told the story which in a way is very simple but makes incredible impact.

With all fairness, I don't think I would be able to finish the book if it wasn't an audiobook. It takes a moment to grab your attention. And even despite that, I recommend the book because it is sooo good! Seriously!

I enjoyed reading this family saga and coming-of-age novel that spans more or less 50 years, and tells the story of the lives of a Kenyan family, specifically Wambũi and then her son, Raymond. I had already read (and loved) another novel by Ndirangu Githaiga, and this one further reinforces my idea that this author is really good at digging out feelings and thoughts that we are often unable to recognize in ourselves and in others. I particularly like how he weaves the stories of different characters, across time and place, how he deconstructs bias and shows us that everyone can really experience anything, the fil rouge is that we all are human. The narrator is really good too, his voice and tone are reassuring and relaxing.