This novella is about a young girl whose dreams are cut short before she realizes them. It is a story of a troubled child who faces rejection since birth. As her name suggests, Maisha is full of life, and is forced to grow into a woman in a cruel African society, after the mysterious demise of her parents. She is left orphaned, with wicked relatives on her back. She is forced to corelate with strange cowives and an old husband. Survival leaves her no choice but to live with the man. Her forced matrimonial home harbours her long lost sibling and so many discoveries. In all this chaos, Maisha keeps a secret. A secret that only she and her deceased parents knew. Once unearthed, this secret is the one that will bring extreme changes in her life. We feel her pain as she soldiers through an abusive marriage to the end of her chapter. Her life ends as soon as it begins.