Shangwe T. Khalwale

Each year in your twenties changes you. For Joeni, an only child raised in sunlit Mombasa, her twenties unfold in waves — of pain, love, friendship, identity and healing. Living with Endometriosis while navigating family expectations, strained friendships, cultural pressure, heartbreak and rediscovery, Joeni learns that growing up is not a straight path—it is a tide. Some years pull her under. Some years carry her forward. From quiet resilience to bold love, from discipline to desire, from loneliness to belonging, Journey Through Her Twenties tells the intimate story of a woman becoming. Tender, culturally rooted and emotionally honest, this debut novel by Shangwe T. Khalwale explores womanhood along the Kenyan coast — where the sea remembers everything.