Mission, a novel set in Kenya by Philip Spires, is published by Libros International

Mission, a novel set in Kenya by Philip Spires has been published by Libros International. Philip Spires was born in 1952 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and spent his first ten years in Sharlston, then a mining village. He went to London University and taught in London for 16 years. Before moving to Brunei in 1992. He then worked in Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates for three years. Since 2003, he has lived in Spain, and has completed a doctorate and his first published novel, Mission. He has maintained his links with West Yorkshire, however, since his father still lives in Sharlston.

Mission is set in mid-1970s Kenya and is based on Philip’s two years as a volunteer in the country. Five characters, a priest, a politician, a teacher, a school graduate and a retired army officer see a series of events from their own individual perspectives. The central chapter is set thirty years later in London to offer a perspective on how lives change. The novel deals with the concept of identity, seen through filters of poverty, religion, politics and, underpinning everything, an idea of justice, a continuum within which each character is seen to pursue some personal mission.

Michael, a missionary priest in Kenya, has just killed Munyasya, a retired army officer. It might have been an accident, but Mulonzya, a politician resentful of the power of foreign churches, tries to exploit the tragedy for his own ends. Boniface, a young church worker, and his wife, Josephine, have just lost their child. They did not make it to the hospital in time, possibly because Michael made a detour to retrieve a letter from the mission, a letter from Janet, a former volunteer teacher who was the priest’s neighbour for two years. It is Munyasya who has the last laugh, however, when he reveals that he was probably in control of events all along. Thirty years on, the same characters find their lives still influenced by his memory.

Philip Spires wrote the novel over twenty years ago and then forgot about it. Last yea, on re-reading the book after so long, Philip was genuinely surprised at how good it was, despite the fact that one of the five chapters was lost. He edited the four existing chapters, changing just a few aspects of the text, and then wrote a new central chapter. And then Libros International appeared and the book was accepted for publication.

Full details of the book are available on Philip Spires’ website at http://www.philipspires.co.uk.