Book of the Month: A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, by Nicholas Drayson

Whether you know Nairobi only from sensationalizing headlines and news reports or from a furtive stopover en route to a Serengeti safari, chances are good that menace and chaos color your associations. And yet, as I learned on a multi-day stay last summer, far from the foreign correspondent's camera and notebook, life goes on every day in the Kenyan capital with still considerable swatches of dignity and delight. This is one of the subtexts of Nicholas Drayson's engaging new novel, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa.

This quiet, gently humorous tale weaves the destinies of four principal characters: Mr. Malik is a reserved, brown-skinned bird-lover whose undeclared passion propels the narrative. The object of his affection is red-haired and pale-skinned Rose Mbikwa, longtime leader of the weekly East African Ornithological Society's bird walks. The third character is Mr. Malik's observant, empathetic shamba boy helper, Benjamin. Ruffling this flock's feathers is the flamboyant and carefree Harry Khan, who flies in from North America and incites a romantic rivalry for Rose's attentions.

Based on a bird-watching challenge between Malik and Khan, Drayson's narrative interlaces learned details about the birds of Nairobi and environs with equally insightful depictions of the capital's human inhabitants. We are introduced to subcultures rarely seen or associated with Kenya, such as the faithfuls of the Asadi Club, longtime residents of Nairobi whose ancestors emigrated from India in the early 20th century, or the fervent bird-watchers of the EAOS, who range from old Africa hands such as Hilary Fotherington-Thomas to young tourist guides such as Jennifer Halutu.

Woven through the unfolding tragicomic competition between Malik and Khan are piquant portrayals of the political corruption, infrastructure inconveniences, and elaborate social niceties that underlie the layers of everyday Nairobi life. As his characters entertainingly tally more and more bird-sightings, Drayson manages to touch on the capital's smoky sidewalk rubbish disposal system, the practice of Somali tribesmen crossing the border to kidnap young Kenyans for mercenary slavery, and the challenges and ravages of AIDS.

The refreshing accomplishment of this novel is that, as for most Kenyans, these factors are not the focus of Drayson's literary binoculars; rather they are the backdrop to an even more illuminating guide: to the habits and habitats, instincts and ideals, of the birds—nested and not—of this lovingly evoked East African field.