Author Ndiritu Wahome masterfully interjects African folklore into contemporary reality for a poignant, heart rendering and sometimes brutal picture of his native Kenya. Staying faithful to his signature genre, magical realism, The Girl with the Flawless Face is a collection of short stories that captures African legends of mermaids and magic, Majini, and layers them into the lives of realistic characters and events.

Faced with the very real horror of terrorism, governmental repression and religious extremism, the Majini represent fears personified. The use of magic and the mystical gives the characters a vehicle for expressing the dread they may not be able to articulate in day to day life.

But Wahome’s Kenya is also magically beautiful. Set in the backgrounds of breath-taking beaches, emerald rainforests and sparkling ocean waters, the characters are, both young and old, painted as living reflections of the landscape.