A Farm Called Kishinev

A Farm Called Kishinev by the prolific Kenyan writer Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye is a historical novella that delves into the complex life of an ordinary Jewish settler family in 20th-century East Africa. The narrative is set against the backdrop of a 1903 British plan to offer Uasin Gishu, Kenya, as a Jewish national home for those escaping persecution in Eastern Europe—a plan that was ultimately dropped. Through the experience of the mixed-race narrator, Benjamin Kiplagat Wilder, the novel sensitively explores the intricate interplay of international politics, colonial dominance, and racial ideologies, including anti-Semitism and anti-African racism. It is a thought-provoking and richly researched work that gives voice to a marginalized community and critiques the history of land occupation and identity in Kenya.