The People of Ostrich Mountain

As the 1950s Mau Mau war breaks out in the foothills of Mt. Kenya Wambũi a fourteen-year-old girl leaves her besieged village to join a prestigious boarding school a half days journey away by train. There she becomes aware of her extraordinary mathematical abilities discovered by her teacher Eileen Atwood. Initially Wambũi views Eileens attentions with suspicion and hostility but over time the two grow close and form a lifelong friendship. Unfortunately for Wambũi the mid-twentieth century isnt ready for a female math prodigy particularly in Kenya. But she quietly and defiantly takes on the obstacles seeking to define her applying her unusual gifts in new directions which ultimately benefits her impoverished family and inspires her siblings and their children to pursue their own dreams. After forty years in Kenya Eileen unexpectedly loses her employment authorization and is forced to return to England where she struggles to adjust to living in a country she barely recognizes. Meanwhile Wambũis son Ray a doctor navigates a fraught visa application process and travels to America to begin residency training; however his hospital becomes insolvent and shuts down a year later. He and his colleagues are assimilated into other programs where as foreign-born physicians they endure relentless prejudice. As a black man he also discovers that the streets of Chicago are sometimes quick to judge with serious consequences. A saga of family and friendship spanning five decades and three continents The People of Ostrich Mountain chronicles the interconnected lives of three outsiders as they navigate the vagaries of race gender and immigration.