Matata Trilogy

As Lando, aged ten, emerges from the confessional booth, the reader is already embarked on an epic journey. The crossing of the first European around the Cape of South Africa in 1488 had significantly altered the course of history for part of Asia and much of Africa. The Author conveniently sets the scene with a map and short prologue connecting the dots of history. The cultural transformation of the people of Goa by the Portuguese, and the enslavement of Africans, particularly to the Americas and the Caribbean, is followed by in 1884, by the parceling of more than eleven and a half million square miles of Africa to seven European colonial powers, including Britain. Precocious Lando is born in British-ruled Kenya to Goan parents just as WWII breaks out in Europe. His parents are among those who flocked to East Africa from their native Portuguese India, lured with promises of a bright future. To British colonialists, the "Westernized Christian Indians" suited their needs perfectly. Lando's family and community struggle to keep their Indo-Portuguese heritage and Catholic faith alive in a Kenya dominated by the ugly reality of racial segregation based on colour. The 'browns' that include: Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians (Parsees) are sandwiched between the white rulers and the black indigenous population. But Lando's world is also filled with adventure, and readers will be transported in dhows and steamships across the Indian Ocean, and on land by ox-drawn carts, steam locomotives right along with the characters as events unfold. Ultimately, to fulfill his father's dreams, the eleven-year-old must embark on the biggest adventure of his life: journeying to distant Goa to attend a Jesuit-run boarding school-and then engineering his escape back to Africa. Beyond the Cape – the first in the Matata Trilogy - brings vividly to life the alluring sights, sounds, and smells of mid-twentieth century East Africa. The book is filled to the brim with evocative, multi-layered stories steeped in colonial history-stories that are alternately funny, sad, and touching as Lando grapples with the complexities of straddling two distinctly different worlds.

Lando is born in British-ruled Kenya to parents from Goa as WW II breaks out in Europe. His family and community struggle to keep their Indo-Portuguese heritage alive in a Kenya dominated by the reality of racial segregation. At age ten, he is sent to a Jesuit-run boarding school in Goa, but engineers an escape two years later and returns to his beloved Kenya, just as the dreaded Mau Mau, a secret organization determined to get their land back, and overthrow the colonial government, is slowly spreading terror. In the 60s, Britain starts dismantling its far-flung Empire. Many flee East Africa, fearing a breakdown of law and order, and seeking a more predictable future. Most students already abroad do not return. Some do. "Our Goan boys are leaving their diplomas behind and bringing back English brides," a mother laments, as Lando, a recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship, departs for the UK in 1964. However, three years later, Lando (Catholic and brown) marries Eleanor (Anglican and white), and they return to Kenya where Stephen, the son of a Kikuyu house servant snatched during Operation Anvil (1954) at age seven, and imprisoned by the British in a Detention Camp, suddenly reappears on Lando's doorstep, seeking help. In 1967, a euphoric nation is still revelling in the birth of a new Kenya, almost submerged in a deluge of goodwill, massive gifts of financial aid, and endless dreams. Together, the three must face numerous new challenges. This is a glimpse into their story.