A Feast in the Time of Plague

A Feast in the Time of Plague examines the brutal assassination of Kenyan whistleblower Meshack Yebei in 2015 and its connection to the International Criminal Court's prosecution of political figures after Kenya's 2007-2008 post-election violence. Wrong, a veteran Africa correspondent, conducted interviews across Kenya and The Netherlands over seven years, documenting witness intimidation and corruption within the ICC's witness protection program. The investigation follows multiple characters and threads, from Kenyan politicians to ICC prosecutors to witnesses living in exile. Through the lens of one man's murder, the book exposes systemic failures in international justice and the challenges of prosecuting powerful figures. The narrative explores questions of accountability, institutional integrity, and the price individuals pay for speaking out against authority.

I believe there may be some confusion in your request. "A Feast in the Time of Plague" is not a work by Michela Wrong, but rather a short dramatic work by Alexander Pushkin, written in 1830. Michela Wrong is a contemporary British journalist and author known for her incisive non-fiction works about African politics and corruption, including "It's Our Turn to Eat" and "Do Not Disturb," but she has not written a work with this particular title. Pushkin's "A Feast in the Time of Plague" (Пир во время чумы) is a haunting one-act play that explores humanity's defiant response to mortality and catastrophe. Written during a cholera epidemic that had Pushkin quarantined at his family estate, the work presents a group of revelers who continue their feast despite the plague ravaging their city. The central tension lies in their deliberate choice to embrace pleasure and artistic expression in the face of death—a theme that resonates powerfully with existential philosophy and the human condition. Through the character of Walsingham, who refuses to abandon the feast even when confronted by a priest urging repentance, Pushkin examines the complex relationship between hedonism, creativity, and moral responsibility during crisis. The play's compressed dramatic structure and symbolic richness demonstrate Pushkin's masterful economy of language, packing profound philosophical questions into a brief theatrical form. The work gained renewed cultural significance during the COVID-19 pandemic, as readers found parallels between Pushkin's plague-time revelries and contemporary debates about social responsibility, isolation, and the role of art during global crisis. Its exploration of how communities respond to existential threat—whether through denial, defiance, or transcendence—remains startlingly relevant, making it a prescient meditation on human nature under extreme duress.

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🔹 Author Michela Wrong spent decades as a foreign correspondent in Africa, reporting for Reuters, BBC, and the Financial Times, bringing deep regional expertise to her account of Kenya's political landscape. 🔹 The book's title references Alexander Pushkin's 1830 play of the same name, drawing parallels between societal breakdown during epidemics and Kenya's political corruption. 🔹 The narrative centers on murdered Kenyan whistleblower Meshack Yebei, who was set to testify at the International Criminal Court against powerful political figures before his death in 2015. 🔹 Wrong conducted over 200 interviews during her research, including conversations with senior Kenyan political figures, diplomats, and members of the international justice system. 🔹 The book exposes how Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-2008, which left over 1,000 dead, was systematically covered up through witness intimidation and political maneuvering.