Lucky Girl: a fierce and tender story of life, love and family

 Lucky Girl by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu is a story of one young, sheltered woman who longs for independence must learn about the challenges of race, love and family. To all, Solia is one lucky girl. Raised by her stern, conservative mother and a host of aunts, she lived a protected life in Nairobi, Kenya. Solia is also headstrong, outspoken and rails against the strict rules she must live by. She takes the chance to leave it all beyond by attending Barnard College in New York City. But New York City in the 1990s is not what she expected. Instead of the golden land of opportunity, she finds entitlement, racism and forces her to acknowledge that her Kenyan upbringing has created a different understanding of racism and slavery. When Solia falls in love with a free-spirited artist who her mother would never approve of, she is caught between choosing her Kenyan identity and her family obligations and her own heart. 

Lucky Girl is a fierce and yet tender story about the lives and loves we choose, what it means to be an African immigrant in America and how a young woman finds herself in the world. Reading the beautifully moving words, it was hard to believe that Lucky Girl is the debut novel of Ms. Muchemi-Ndiritu. It is a thought provoking story about life, love and our interactions with each other. Lucky Girl shows that we can learn from each other as our different perspectives can add a new piece to the overall picture of life. I devoured this book as I could not put it down. Solia’s story drew me in and I learned with her and experienced from her eyewitness experiences of life in New York City. I enjoyed watching Solia grow from a sheltered young woman to a woman with a deeper understanding of the complexities of the world around us. I highly recommend Lucky Girl. 

Lucky Girl is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook