As the Mau Mau war breaks out in the foothills of Mt. Kenya, Wambũi, a fourteen-year-old girl leaves her besieged village to join a prestigious boarding school a half day’s journey away by train. There, she becomes aware of her extraordinary mathematical abilities discovered by her teacher, Eileen Atwood, whom Wambũi initially regards with suspicion and hostility, and with whom a lifelong friendship subsequently develops. Kenya in the 1950s is not ready for a female math prodigy but Wambũi quietly and defiantly takes on the obstacles seeking to define her.

Eileen is unexpectedly forced to return to England after spending forty years in Kenya, and she struggles to adjust to settling back in a country she barely recognizes. Meanwhile, Wambũi’s son, Ray, a doctor, travels to America to begin residency training, unaware of the myriad challenges that await him. As a black man, he also discovers that the streets of Chicago are sometimes quick to judge, with serious consequences.

A saga of family and friendship spanning five decades and three continents, The People of Ostrich Mountain chronicles the interconnected lives of three outsiders as they navigate the vagaries of race, gender and immigration.