AUTHOR MAHUA CAVANAGH SETS A MYSTERY IN NAIROBI, KENYA

Mahua Cavanagh is a third culture kid from New York. Nairobi Ndoto, her debut novel, was inspired by the four years she spent living in Nairobi, Kenya. These days, she lives in Vienna, Austria. When not working on her next novel, she's out having fun diving into Viennese life, exploring the city, and learning German. To learn more about Mahua and her books, visit her website.

In 2015, a job with the United Nations led my husband and me from our home in New York to Nairobi, Kenya. We were ready for a change and excited about the adventure. We made the leap with open arms and open minds.

We arrived in Nairobi in August and found that we felt…a little chilly. There was a big drop in temperature from New York summer weather. That was the first of many things I learned about Nairobi: it is not hot and humid. At 5,500 feet above sea level, it’s dry and relatively cool, especially at night. Outside of the two rainy seasons, it’s usually sunny and 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather is amazing, as is the rest of the city.

 

The Kenyan capital is vibrant. It’s high energy and full of life. You have commerce, art, music, culture, food, clubs, bars, and everything else you would expect from a major metropolis, albeit one with a game park. What other city can boast an area where lions roam free and where you can look at giraffes against the backdrop of a city skyline?

 

In addition to having night life and wildlife, Nairobi is also cosmopolitan with a wide array of people. Kenyans themselves can be from one of the 45 tribes of Kenya, ethnic Europeans (usually of British descent), or ethnic Indians. Then there are the expatriates—partly integrated into the fabric of Nairobi while mostly living in the expat bubble, with its ups and downs as well as its privileges.

 

Expats are just as varied as Kenyans. There are people who come from the private sector, people who work for nongovernment organizations, religious groups, and diplomats. They come for all sorts of reasons, but what brings people to Nairobi is only the tip of the iceberg. The interesting part is what happens once they settle into the city. 

There are overlaps in experiences, but there is no one way to be an expat. I met people whose careers took a hit because they traveled for their spouses’ work, which sometimes led to resentment. There were couples who lived separately so that neither career would suffer, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. There were people who struggled with how to raise their children, realizing that theirs were now Third Culture Kids with a different outlook on life. There were Peter Pans who overindulged in the Nairobi party scene. There were people who fell in love with Kenya and never wanted to leave. 

 

The expat bubble in Nairobi was a strange and interesting place. I lived among all these people. I was one of them, and I experienced much of what they did. Some of the experiences were universal. Figuring out a new city can be tricky. Distance from friends and family can be painful. Establishing a new life in a new place takes effort. 

 

Some experiences were specific to Nairobi. For example, driving was like being in an action-packed video game. Plus, I had to learn how to manage water rationing and power outages. I also became adept at how to handle monkey incidents, including but not limited to kitchen break-ins.

 

Even with the tough parts, life in Nairobi suited me. I was and am still grateful for the opportunity to live four years in Kenya. Like so many others before me, I was inspired by what I saw, witnessed, and experienced in Kenya. Unlike many other expats, I didn’t want to write a memoir. I had a different idea. I kept thinking to myself, “there is a story in here somewhere.” 

 

I tried to write it down, but I found it difficult to do so while still living there. In 2019, we moved to Vienna, Austria and I sat down to write in earnest. I was able to take everything in my head and create the tale of three expat women who become embroiled in a murder. Set in Kenya and including some real places, it all came together as my debut novel: Nairobi Ndoto. It’s a story written to entertain as well as give a peek into life as an expat in Nairobi. It’s also my love letter to a country I will always carry in my heart.

 

Nairobi Ndoto 

Three expatriate women find their ndoto—the Swahili word for dreams—have become a nightmare when their world is thrown into turmoil by murder.

 

Tilly, Pauline, and Zara each dreamed of a life abroad in Kenya filled with adventure, opportunities, and new beginnings. Reality didn’t match the dream. Tilly thought her move to Kenya would be temporary, but nearly ten years and three kids later, she no longer knows what home is. Dealing with an increasingly strained marriage, Pauline struggles to establish herself as more than a trailing spouse. Zara, tired of shuttling between Nairobi and Mogadishu and sleeping in borrowed shipping containers, longs for stability. When one of their husbands engages in illicit activity, the women become entangled in a murder. Lines are crossed and friendships tested as they sift through the shock and tragedy.

 

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