Book Review: Blue Kanyoni, Volume 2 By Beatrice Murage BM

Title: Blue Kanyoni Two

Author: Beatrice Murage

Publisher: Bleeding Ink Scribes Publishers

Year: 2025

Reviewer: Bonface Otieno Okinyi

Retail Price: Kshs 900/- At Bleeding Ink Ecommerce Store

In Blue Kanyoni Volume 2, Beatrice Murage deepens the saga of the Mama Kui’s household, focusing on the aftermath of Shantel’s betrayal, the spiritual crisis that follows, and the long road to forgiveness and self-discovery. This volume blends satire, mystery, and spiritual realism with the familiarity of rural social dynamics.

Whereas Volume 1 explored betrayal, Volume 2 delves into redemption and identity. The mysterious theft of Shantel’s corpse, the emergence of Prophetess Waruguru with her bizarre rituals, and Baba Kui’s reckoning with his past all form the intricate web of conflict. The novel asks: Who was Shantel? Was she a con artist, a wounded soul, or a spiritual enigma?

The unresolved grief, deception, and spiritual confusion faced by Mama Kui underscore the enduring trauma caused by betrayal and cultural entanglement. Spiritual manipulation and religious theatrics unfold. Prophetess Waruguru is a satirical portrayal of Kenya’s mushrooming charismatic churches that prey on vulnerable women. This invokes Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s critique in The River Between of the misuse of religion.

Forgiveness and healing generally is the lit torch of hope.  Mama Kui’s quiet strength and refusal to succumb to revenge or bitterness become the heart of the narrative. Her emotional intelligence elevates her as a new African matriarch.

Identity and deception have always formed a crisis’ spine in most African societies; it remains so even when literature shoots a lot of attempts to resolve the phenomena.  The enigma of Shantel’s “double life” reveals how fragmented identities operate in modern Kenya.

Tradition vs. change has been in limbo for quite some time, technological advancements, globalizations, modernism, and civilization has exposed many people in Africa, that bare fact though has not eliminated the maze between tradition and transition. The generational conflict, religious shifts, and urban-rural divide are further explored, giving voice to a community in flux.

Volume 2 offers more psychological depth. Baba Kui is humbled and becomes a tragic reflection of guilt and failed masculinity. Giving my unsolicited opinion, NGOs, governments, policy makers and other stakeholders for over a decade shifted policy attention towards the empowerment of the girl-child without teaching the masculine community on how to co-exist with an empowered woman.  Mama Kui emerges as a philosophical and emotionally mature woman whose silence and actions offer a more powerful resistance than speech. The mysterious Waruguru is both a comedic and symbolic figure—a personification of religious charlatanism.

Wacaro, the village gossip, adds humour and sharpens the satirical edge.

Murage’s narrative continues with rich imagery, folklore tone, oral storytelling rhythm, and strong episodic structure. The pacing is more suspenseful, with cliffhangers and mysteries surrounding Shantel’s body, strange rituals, and Mika’s hidden motives. Waruguru’s dramatic scenes are theatrical and evoke magical realism—blurring lines between reality and spiritual drama.

Compared to Volume 1, Blue Kanyoni 2 is more experimental. It leans closer to Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust in its psychological depth and elliptical truths. The use of religious satire echoes Wahome Mutahi’s Three Days on the Cross. Like The River and the Source, it affirms the dignity of the African woman navigating loss, faith, and family duty.

She uses Psychoanalytic theory. Shantel’s unknown past, Baba Kui’s guilt, and Mama Kui’s internal healing invite Freudian and Jungian readings.

Structuralism. The binary oppositions—truth/lies, spirit/body, male/female, tradition/modernity—shape the novel’s moral architecture.

Postmodernism. The novel’s refusal to offer a fixed truth about Shantel’s life and the subversion of religious authority reflects a postmodern worldview.

The novel reflects the growing spiritual desperation among Kenyans seeking miracles amid hardship, the prevalence of deceptive religious figures, and the emotional fallout of unregulated polygamous unions. The drama of land disputes, broken families, and religious theatre reflects daily headlines in Kenya.

In conclusion, this is one of the most powerful sequels I have read recently. Beatrice Murage’s Blue Kanyoni duology is a poignant and profound exploration of love, betrayal, faith, and resilience in rural Kenya. While Volume 1 delivers raw emotional turmoil, Volume 2 offers hope, healing, and spiritual satire.

Together, the two novels offer a compelling social mirror and literary achievement, comparable in thematic depth and cultural value to Grace Ogot’s The River and the Source, Margaret Ogola’s The River and the Source, Ngũgĩ’s Petals of Blood, and Wahome Mutahi’s satirical works. Murage joins the lineage of writers using fiction to interrogate gender, morality, and modernity in the African context