Book excerpt: The Shackles.... underscores the underprivileged status. Males are preferred. Females are shunned. Only sons of the soil can buy, farm and inherit ancestral land, assets and property including children. Women are prohibited from buying ancestral land, but can become tenant or migrant farmers. In this true story, one woman goes beyond the call of her benevolent spirit, chi to organize communal farming to boost economic sustenance for her impoverished society after adopting almost twenty-five children, including orphans. Her progress and efforts are stalled because she is an "ohu." During a political crises bordering on social stratification, her barn is burned, her children are expelled from school and the Oruku village is thrown into chaos as many people are maimed, killed, displaced and made homeless. The novel covers universal parallels of economic survival, filthy politics of greed, social stratification, male chauvinism, discrimination and prejudice. It is an unforgettable story of courage.