3.5
The River Between
ByPublisher Description
A 50th-anniversary edition of one of the most powerful novels by the great Kenyan author and Nobel Prize nominee
A legendary work of African literature, this moving and eye-opening novel lucidly captures the drama of a people and culture whose world has been overturned. The River Between explores life in the mountains of Kenya during the early days of white settlement. Faced with a choice between an alluring new religion and their own ancestral customs, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who fear the unknown and those who see beyond it.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
A legendary work of African literature, this moving and eye-opening novel lucidly captures the drama of a people and culture whose world has been overturned. The River Between explores life in the mountains of Kenya during the early days of white settlement. Faced with a choice between an alluring new religion and their own ancestral customs, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who fear the unknown and those who see beyond it.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe River Between Reviews
3.5
Paper Cloud
Created 4 days agoShare
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vivi
Created 10 days agoShare
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Osoh
Created 10 days agoShare
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“The River Between tells a story of division as the greatest and ultimate tool of colonialism. It discussed religion, culture and identity in a way I wish more people would think about and explore.”
PartTimeSarah
Created 26 days agoShare
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“This novella first published in 1965 has a lot to say about pre and post-colonial Africa and the truth that one cannot combat a poison with that same poison. The book focuses primarily on how two communities struggle against each other’s ideas of what is needed to secure a future for their people in the face of encroachment by the new white government and the Christian missionaries seeking to change the cultural identity of the people. I know I will think about this book for a while and, even if I don’t think I’ll read it again anytime soon, I am glad to have read this novella.”
emma🪻🩷🦭
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“This is the first classic that I have read that I wasn’t forced to read in school. I wanted to challenge myself with something different and that’s exactly what I got from this. I had to do a lot of mental gymnastics to really get to the meat of what the author was trying to say, the connections he was making, but, that’s what made it fun. I learned a lot.”
About Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938–2025) was an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. In addition to The River Between, his novels Devil on the Cross, A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, and Weep Not, Child are available from Penguin Classics.
Uzodinma Iweala (introduction) is the author of the award-winning novel Beasts of No Nation and is one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and New York City.
Uzodinma Iweala (introduction) is the author of the award-winning novel Beasts of No Nation and is one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and New York City.
Other books by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
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