Harry Harambee's Kenyan Sundowner: A Novel

Harry Gardner, a recently widowed American publisher in his late sixties, sets off on an uncharacteristic adventure to Kenya, lured by a charming travel arranger and the promise of leisure, comfort, and maybe a little illicit fun. With a soul weathered by grief and a life dulled by routine, Harry seeks escape—but what he finds is a world far more complex, colorful, and morally ambiguous than he imagined. In the sultry rhythms of the East African coast and the pulse of Nairobi’s urban sprawl, Harry’s cushioned notions of retirement, romance, and responsibility are soon upended.

At the heart of Harry’s transformation is his relationship with Esther, a captivating Kenyan widow whose motives remain as layered as her beauty. Their connection is tangled in cultural assumptions, power imbalances, and economic dependencies—yet it also pulses with a sincere, if uneasy, desire for mutual meaning. Meanwhile, Aldo, the smooth-talking fixer who drew Harry to Kenya in the first place, seems to have an agenda of his own. As the trio’s paths intertwine, Harry must confront uncomfortable questions: Who is exploiting whom? Can any cross-cultural connection be truly equal? And what does it mean to be generous without being taken for a fool?

Told with wit, introspection, and a knowing eye for the absurd, Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner is part travelogue, part moral inquiry, and part late-in-life coming-of-age tale. It traces one man’s attempt to start over in a world that doesn’t play by his old rules, and his awkward, heartfelt quest to matter again—to someone, to himself, or perhaps just to the passing world.

Winner of Multiple Awards in Literary Fiction. Included in the Prize-Winning Literary Fiction Series from LaPuerta Books and Media

Harry must come to terms with questions at the heart of his character: Is corruption a fact of life everywhere? Is all love transactional? Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner is an emotional story of expat intrigue in Africa, reminiscent of The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene and The Constant Gardener by John le Carré.

Jones writes with clarity and precision, offering a convincing study of a man taking risks and exploring new relationships with an almost childlike view on the world he's thrown into. Readers looking for engaging contemporary fiction with an emotionally available adult male lead will quickly be pulled into Harry's fast-paced adventure, a memorable (literal) vacation read. - BookLife Reviews