Across the Bridge

Hail Jail! You did not speak about novels until you had read Across the Bridge!

“Hail jail! The house for all. The only house where a government minister and a pickpocket dine together, work and discuss matters on equal terms. The only place where equality is exercised regardless of the social class.”

If there ever was a novel, in the 80 and 90s, that almost everyone had read, and that many could relate to,  and many could recite the first few paragraphs, even pages, it was Mwangi Gicheru’s Across the Bridge,  the story of Chuma as much as it was the story of Caroline Wambui.

It remains the dream love story of every boy. Chuma, a poor, village-raised boy, working as a houseboy in Nairobi, falls in love with the only daughter of his wealthy and influential employer, Mr. Kahuthu. What starts as a few stolen nights in the servant’s quarters grows quite quickly and before Chuma knows what is happening, Caro is pregnant.  Not knowing what to do, Chuma does only what he thinks plausible, he resigns and disappears to his village, where he hopes never to be seen again.

Life in the village is quiet and boring, as expected, until one day, when Caro, out of nowhere, appears in the village. And she has arrived to stay. This sets in motion a series of events and counter events, with Kahuthu, using his influence, the police and the law to rein on a hapless Chuma, leading him to his first rubbing shoulders with the law.  

They say Mwanaume ni effort. And so Chuma is ready to do everything to make Caroline comfortable, to live a life that almost resembles the kingly life she had been accustomed to. And this needs money. With no job and no meaningful income, the pursuit of money to make Caro comfortable, Chuma starts off with small odd jobs here and there, some businesses, and on realizing that genuine business or work cannot give him the kind money he needed, he crosses the legal bridge, and he starts with small time pickpocketing, common theft, and when he meets Kisinga, Chuma becomes a high level criminal. And this leads him to more confrontations with the police, police cells, and courts. And jail. Multiple times.

While this may be the story of two love birds who do everything to be together, it is a stark representation of the society we live in, over for decades after the novel was published. The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poor, and the two are world apart as seen in the way Chuma and Kahuthu relate – with Kahuthu not even recognizing Chuma as a human being. 

Written in the first person, and in simple language, what draws one to the book is the narrator’s authenticity and directness, even when he wonders whether God created him in a hurry! A few memorable scenes in the book offer so much humour. Like the morning Chuma decides to resign and reports to Kahuthu, who dismissively refers him to his wife; or the description of Caro’s first night in Chuma’s village hut. 

For me, the funniest scene was the morning Chuma’s Wazees travelled to Kahuthu’s home to ask for Caro’s hand in marriage. Every description, from the preparations, to the dressing is just funny.  And what of the day Chuma had some little money, and decided to go to Kahuthu’s Golf Club just to show him that he had also come across some money.

Chuma pursues Caro all the way to the coast, and this almost ends tragically; but after servicing his time in prison, in a strange twist of events; Caro is the now pursuing Chuma. Chuma crosses the moral bridge, but do Caro’s parents also cross the bridge? Do they accept Chuma as a son in law?

Find out when you grab this scintillating, fast paced book; either to read for the first time or to re-read. Across the Bridge can be found in bookshops around the country. You can buy your copy at Text Book Centre for Sh 740. And you don’t have to visit them. Click  to purchase it online and have it delivered to you.