Review Tuesday: Bound to Tradition Book 1 by A P von K'Ory #ReviewTuesday #Africa #Multicultural

Bound to Tradition Book 1: The Dream by A P von K’Ory

Amazon KDP, 2013

Kenyan teenager Khira Caroline Oganga comes from a proud line of Luo warriors. Orphaned before she was born, she is her mother’s jewel: beautiful, intelligent, courageous, inquisitive and eager for experience. Although she is deeply embedded in her family and in the ancient traditions of her tribe, she’s also drawn to the English-dominated society of Kenya’s former colonial masters. Given the opportunity to study at St. Mary’s Girls High School, Khira finds herself increasingly confused by the conflicting values of her two worlds.

When she meets brash, charismatic Erik Lindqvist, a brilliant but arrogant tycoon more than twice her age, these conflicts reach a crisis. Despite the seemingly unbridgeable gaps between their status and their cultures, Khira and Erik fall in love, and the domineering Swedish billionaire is determined to marry the charming and headstrong teen – even though she has been betrothed since childhood. Khira is more than willing to become Erik’s wife, but insists that their union be on her terms. Somehow she needs to balance the expectations and rituals of her native culture against the demands of Erik’s world, and her own surging desire.

The Dream is the first book of the Bound to Tradition trilogy, which charts the sometimes rocky course of Khira’s and Erik’s relationship. I found it utterly fascinating. A P von K’Ory provides an in-depth introduction to Luo culture, conservative and “backward” in some ways, amazingly progressive in others. The relationship between the sexes is particularly intriguing. Superficially, men dominate Luo society, but among the women, males are referred to as “infants”. Women are the patient, all-suffering goddesses who nurture, protect and care for the fundamentally unstable, emotionally volatile men.

This perspective, of course, applies equally to Erik, the ultimate alpha male who nevertheless needs the balancing feminine power that Khira wields.

I loved the way the author managed to capture the unique cadence and flow of Luo language, even in English. I have no experience at all with Kenya, but the world of tradition she portrays felt genuine, as nuanced and complex as any society.

The book begins with Erik’s and Khira’s journey to her home village, to seek her grandfather’s consent to the marriage, then flashes back to recount her earlier history, her education, and her first encounters with Erik. In general, this structure works well. The author dispenses information gradually, letting the reader get to know Khira bit by bit. There are occasional “information dumps” that weaken the book – several pages of back story without any intervening action – but mostly we learn about the characters in more natural and organic fashion.

Apparently, Bound by Tradition is a prequel to the author’s Golden Shana series. Erik and Khira are Shana’s parents. Their unusual background is mentioned in the Shana books; I found it highly satisfying to read about it in detail. In fact, Shana’s relationship with Roman in some ways mirrors her parents’ history. Certainly both cases are characterized by a ferocious clash between the masculine and feminine principles, a supremely dominant man tempered, but not tamed, by a strong, confident woman.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed The Dream. I look forward to reading the next volume of the trilogy.