The problems of a young and educated but underpaid executive so humorously narrated in What a Life! make way for the adventures of a cunning husband and gem smuggler in What a Husband!, Mwangi Ruheni's latest novel. This exciting new work is a pleasant change from the cultural, racial and political conflicts that form the bulk of the writing in Black Africa. Yet the author does not altogether ignore the reference to the historical struggle for freedom. The `mining' village, an imaginary and idealised camp way up on the dry and barren shores of Lake Rudolf, is indirectly included as a reminder. It is a small but well organized 'kingdom' set up by exiled freedom fighters.