In a powerful tale of love and politics, the lives of three families are brought together by what seem to be the most surreal of circumstances.

Meet Jeffery, the idealistic police officer who joins the Kenyan Police Force eager to serve, with dreams of turning the law enforcement system into a pristine beacon of hope.  A place of law and order, where a ‘good day’s work’ does not involve an officer allowing himself to be bribed by a criminal in custody thus soiling Nairobi’s streets for nothing more than a few thousand shillings.

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Life and the brutal realities of living in the slums of Kibera see him forsaking his utopian notions and joining a bandwagon of crooked policeman, who terrorize and extort from civilians as a means to an end.  With corruption rampant at every level (from the lowest police officer to the highest-ranking government official) Jeffrey initially struggles to navigate the maze of bribery, canvassing and influence peddling.  He soon learns that it is ‘survival of the sharpest swindler’ and failure to play the game, would see him transferred at best, or worse fired.  Moreover, with so many Kenyans willing to pay their way out of the law it eventually ceases to become like stealing.

Policing on the streets of Nairobi is not always extortion-express, every now and then, Jeffrey is forced to deal with seemingly petty crimes in which he finds himself occasionally arresting University student Michael, a passionate graffiti artist largely motivated by the social, economic and political injustices rife in the country.  Through his thought-provoking art he endeavors to castigate, educate, unify and bestow hope upon his fellow Kenyans.

Michael’s fellow artist-in-crime is his childhood friend Jai, who ceaselessly bears his father’s burdensome political aspirations.  The two are bound together by all things Kenyan and the love they share for Leena, (Jai’s sister).

Forced to grow up under her brother’s shadow, as a young girl Leena battles with identity issues; often succumbing to peer pressure she treats Michael as an outcast.  Her bitter indignation sees her conniving with her playmates to frame and get rid of ‘the intruder’, by way of a few devious antics.  Ironically, what was once a raging rancour blossoms into a sweet and innocent fondness as the two develop a close bond.

The two are separated the instant Pooja’s watchful eye notices their friendship progressing.  The overprotective and meddlesome matriarch was not going to stand by and watch her daughter befriend and fall in-love with the maid’s son.  Without wasting a single moment she changes her mind and agrees to relocate from their complex to the exclusive burbs, but gives her husband an ultimatum, “the help” and her son are to remain.

As fate would have it, after roughly twelve years, Leena and Michael are reunited and the two ‘love-birds’ pick up from where they left off — their affection blossoming into full-blown love; love that at its peak strived to survive in a world that was designed to keep people apart.  European from African, African from Asian, Asian from European, each group assigned its selective pocket, with boundaries and divisions that are impenetrable, if not impossible, to remove.  It is these precise social divides that Leena’s mother believes should remain eternally set in place.  Unfortunately, the scheming mother with time is forced to accept that life cannot always be controlled.

Pooja and her husband’s principles are not only poles apart but are a constant cause of friction in their marriage.  Raj believes all Kenyans are equal despite race, ethnicity and social standing.  Spurred on by personal memories of his political idol Pio Gama Pinto (1927-1965), he does his utmost best to foster change in a nation that seems too far gone to redeem.

The trio of families is sadly connected by a heinous and life-changing crime that results in Jeffrey being instantly abandoned by his wife and her distant cousin.  It took losing all he had for the officer to learn what was worth keeping. Desperate and alone he makes a concerted effort to right his wrongs by beseeching Michael for assistance.

Through detailed personal accounts of hope-deferred, conspiracy, social prejudice, resilience and redemption Verjee does a remarkable job of highlighting the demise of citizens besieged by a nation unravelling at the seams as they contend with a boiling pot of corruption, collapsed systems, disease outbreaks, ethnic violence, racial tensions and controversial elections.

In order to fully appreciate her remarkable literary skills, rich with descriptions of systems that deeply and tragically affect both nation and family. ‘Who Will Catch Us as We Fall’ is an undeniable must read.

Her meticulous portrayal of the fall of a nation with no one to catch it, leaves readers with a clear picture of all the things the country could have been, could have had, set against a backdrop of, regrettably, everything it chose instead.

Iman Verjee is a Kenyan author, she was born in Nairobi and lived there until she was 18.  Her second novel Who Will Catch Us as We Fall, was published in 2016, which she began writing while she spent a year back in Kenya (after twelve years away).  In 2012 she won the PFD City University Writing Prize for Fiction for her debut novel In Between Dreams (Oneworld, 2014), which she wrote while completing an MA in Creative Writing at City University.  She currently lives in Edmonton, Canada.