Pub Date: 2012-05-29 Pages: 272 Language: English Publisher: Penguin Books Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenyas independence from Britain. A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952-1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo. the villages chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders. including Jomo Kenyatta. a masterly story unfolds. one in which compromises are forced. friendships are betrayed. and loves are tested.