Bøker av Pheroze Nowrojee

Pheroze Nowrojee's family came to Kenya in 1896 to work on the railway. In rich, layered prose, this book examines how that voyage from India became a Kenyan journey, how the railway became the family's own journey as Kenyans. Against this backdrop of the family's story, the book reflects on Kenya's history over the last hundred years and the chequered Asian African story within it. The family story interweaves with the country's major events, including the building of the Uganda Railway with indentured labour from India, the First World War in Kenya, the Emergency, independence, and the 1982 coup attempt, to result in a book that offers fresh insights into the national story.

'Zanzibar plates' have been in the East African region since the second half of the 19th century. Porcelain and ceramics from Persia and China had arrived ealier, imported to East Africa over many centuries. This book explores the cultural significance of these early imports and that of their replacements, the so-called Zanzibar plates out of Europe. Though these latter plates were low-cost utilitarian ware in the local European market, they were transformed in usage, value, and design upon interacting with the people of the Indian Ocean littoral, becoming an integral part of Swahili culture.

In this collection of stories, Pheroze Nowrojee takes his readers on journeys into varied Kenyan, East African, and other landscapes, delving into lives and personalities equally diverse. Whether actively transforming their surroundings or being transformed by what is around them, his complex characters reflect our common humanity in sometimes ordinary and sometimes surprising-but always compelling-ways. Exquisitely told, laden with humour and beauty and poignancy, these stories are a vital addition to the East African anthology.