Book Review: “& This is How to Stay Alive” by Shingai Njeri Kagunda

In & This is How to Stay Alive, Shingai Njeri Kagunda uses hypnotic yet conversational prose to bring us Nyokabi, a young woman with the heart of a storyteller whose world has been shattered by the suicide of her beloved brother, Baraka.

Nyokabi receives a magical potion from an odd relative that sends her back to a point in time when Baraka was still alive. She learns that there is magic in storytelling and that storytellers are the carriers of time. Nyokabi plunges into uncertainty with the determination of a woman possessed. Within that magic must exist a way to keep Baraka alive.

Flitting back and forth through time, Nyokabi desperately attempts to unravel the skein of past to present, but reality is unforgiving. Re-writing the past means bearing the heavy consequences of meddling with time.

Kagunda weaves a spellbinding tale of familial love and heartbreak while reminding us of that which should be cherished mostly deeply as we live our lives. While there is sadness, so much sadness, there is strength and resilience to be found in this story. & This is How to Stay Alive is an almost maddeningly tender and achingly lyrical story full of love, magic, and ultimately, hope.