African culture forbids children from speaking ill of their parents. Parental brutality, autocracy or neglect must either be denied or accepted as part of a strict upbringing regime designed to ensure that children are well-brought up to become useful to themselves in the future. Evans Kinyua breaks rank with this tradition. In a brutally frank and moving narration, he shows how an early damage by a dictatorial and uncaring father as well as the circumstances of his upbringing in rural Kenya affected his life and those of his brothers. He feels liberated when one day he draws out a knife to defend himself against an impending brutality from the patriarchal autocrat. But the damage has perhaps already been done. Written in excellent prose, Evans tells this enthralling story primarily because he wants to "encourage those who find themselves in similar situations." It is a story that is bound to appeal to anyone interested in how our early upbringing influences our personality and perspectives in life.