the mzungu boy is a novel by meja mwangi. it is set in kenya during the 1950s; during that time, kenya was under british rule. the british colony is facing a kenyan uprising known as the mau mau rebellion. the majority of the fertile farmland is under british control, and the best the kenyans can hope for is to work the land as tenant farmers, giving the majority of their yield to the british. while the kenyans work the land, they live under oppressive conditions and under constant threat of violence. the mau mau rebellion seeks to rid the land of the british colonizers and give the country back to kenyans.