Allow me to introduce my one year old baby novel “Ahadi” !!! Available on Amazon

This might be long overdue but I felt I owed myself to bring a series that will explore how Ahadi came to be and what is covered in every chapter. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

How did the novel come about?

Welp! See, when I was younger I used to loove going to the library and read french novels. It felt like an escape. I would read about these characters and envision myself living those stories. I was always struck by how much the author could make feel so many different emotions whether it’s sadness, empathy, anger, etc. I decided then that I would, one day, become a writer. At eleven, i attempted to write my first novel but that went up in flames (literally-story for another day).

Twelve years later, I thought I was writing a poem when the lines came to me as ” They walked hand in hand in the opposite direction to the war.” It didn’t sound much like a poem. A few months later, I had more clarity as to what that was about and so I embarked on this journey of writing my first official novel.

Why the title “Ahadi” ?

One of my mother’s favorite song is “Ahadi Zake” by Marion Shako. It’s a gospel song about the promises of God. Ahadi means promise in Swahili. As I was writing the novel, there was this unconscious idea that the main character’s promise by the universe was going to be fulfilled. In the end, it does. I wouldn’t want to spoil the last chapter of the book but Ahadi is also the name of someone dear to the main character.

Why are the names in Swahili and chapters?

I was born in Uvira,DRC and the language we spoke growing up was Swahili. I wanted to give bits of my own identity to this novel. After reading so many books by African authors, I realized that they were unapologetic about naming things and people in their language. This was an ode to our language.

Why “Nyajuru” as the main character?

I wasn’t going to write a novel and it not have a female protagonist. “Nyajuru” is a common Kinyamulenge name. When I was naming the characters, it was important for the names to represent well the characters but also to elevate women from my community-Banyamulenge. If broken down, Nyajuru means she who holds the heavens. It fit well the main character.

Why the prelude?

As I had been writing poems for years before I started this novel, I wanted a poem that would set the tone for the book. I wanted the reader to be informed about what the book was going to reveal.

The prelude deserves an article of its own. Coming soon.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, click here to purchase my debut novel “Ahadi”.