What Does a Man Want? by Muthoni Likimani

About Muthoni Likimani

What Does a Man Want by Muthoni Likimani

Published the same year as her debut novel, What Does a Man Want? shows Likimani's range as a writer, shifting from the historical and religious concerns of her first book to a sharply observed examination of contemporary gender dynamics. The novel asks what Kenyan men actually want from women — beyond the public declarations of love and loyalty — and answers with honesty and some humour. It explores the pressures on Kenyan women to be simultaneously modern and traditional, educated but submissive, economically productive but domestically perfect. Likimani's insight into the emotional economics of marriage and relationships gives the novel a timeless quality, addressing dynamics that remain recognisable in Kenyan society today, more than five decades after publication.