The Dragonfly Sea
Faith Linyonyi shares her insights on The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
If The Dragonfly Sea could be explained using pop culture, the song Aiyana by Otile Brown and Sanaipei Tande would definitely be in the soundtrack as a theme song to our baddie main character, Ayanna. One of her love interests, Lao Jin, is a thirst-trap cross between K-pop sensation and Otile B, a perfect depiction that shows how amazing Yvonne Owuor is in her skill. The book reminds me of lazy days by the coast, super comfy deras and simple luxuries.
Owour has mastered the true art of weaving a complete story. In her second novel she follows the life of an outcast island girl, Ayanna who adopts fellow islander, Muhidin, as her dad and travels through Asia and Turkey when she gets a chance to represent her country.
The book made me think about the richness of Swahili culture; learning methalis and tracking the history of a people through storytelling and language. I was lucky to attend a book reading at Point Zero, a coffee shop in Nairobi town that has dope coffee and book sessions, where they did such a powerful discussion of the novel and Swahili storytelling. I still think of that day and how Yvonne opened a channel for me to reconnect with Swahili through her book.
My mum made me do a eucalyptus face steam last week after I told her I’m feeling a bit stressed out. At some point during the steam, I remembered Ayanna’s mum and her flower garden which heals me each time I think about it even though I’ve never actually smelled it. Culture is a very powerful thing when presented with facts and outstanding creativity. Yvonne reigns supreme in both and I’m happy to live in the same lifetime as her. Ever since I read the book, I judge everything differently. Especially pilau. I crave pilau with spices that smell like they were planted by Ayanna and her mum or, realistically, like they were bought from the Marikiti in Mombasa.
There’s this notion that Yvonne Owuor is a difficult read. I was one of the people who ignorantly held this opinion. I’ve now read both her books and if I were to write an ‘Yvonne Owuor for beginners’ I would say two things: be patient and don’t try to understand everything at once. Trust the ingenuity she has to make you figure it out. It must have been intense to research and come up with such dope content. I’m glad Kenyan books are diversified and thinkers like Yvonne can thrive in such a scene.
Faith Linyonyi is a writer and a blog mum who loves that books have become a tool for personal conversations with herself.
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