In 1954, she moved to Kenya to sell books and, while there, she met Daniel Oludhe Macgoye, a medical doctor, and they were married in 1960.

At first, she published stories in magazines; as her success grew, she started writing works of longer length.

She won awards for many of her books, including for Growing Up at Lina School (1971) and Murder in Majengo (1972), but her most notable novel is Coming to Birth (1986).

An only child, Marjorie finished her secondary education in 1945 and studied English at Royal Holloway College, University of London.

She received a master's degree in English from Birkbeck College, University of London, eight years later.

The couple moved to Alupe Leprosy Mission hospital, near the border separating Kenya and Uganda, and between 1961 and 1966, they had four children together: Phyllis, George, Francis and Lawrence.

In 1971, she and her children moved from Kenya for a job running the university library in Tanzania, while her husband stayed behind.

During this period, she remained committed to social activism in many ways, such as participating in national debates.

[4] In this novel, Macgoye tries to compare the pre-colonial and post-colonial Kenya through the perspective of a Kenyan woman who left her village at the age of 16 to live with her new husband in Nairobi.

By Kenyan standards, he embodies all the characteristics of a young man with a successful future ahead.

[5] Paulina was naïve and ignorant when the novel started, but towards its end, she is an independent woman capable of standing up for what she believes in.

[6] The Present Moment – a novel about seven elderly women in an old people's home, who come from various tribal backgrounds.

The title in tribal language is wasting disease, but it is also a metaphor for "contemporary Kenyan society" where there are obligations, hidden truths and responsibilities.

[8] Homing In – this novel won second place for Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta Literature Prize Competition in 1995.

She is widowed European settler who lives with Martha Kimani, her African American caretaker.

[9] The novel references events like the soldier-settler scheme, the impact of World War 2 on Africa, the German bombing on London, Mau, the controversy over female circumcision, and Kikuyu independent schools.

Her father failed to foresee a flood and did not take any action to save their livestock and crops.

[14] In Victoria and Murder in Majengo and Coming to Birth it reconstructs the image of women through assigning attributes like courage and strength to the protagonists of her novels.

Through opening her shop in Nairobi, she also redefines traditional gender roles by employing others and working as a spy.

[14] Similarly, in Coming to Birth, Paulina redefines traditional gender roles by receiving education and joined a home craft school.

Her works represent the voice of oppressed women to help tackle power and authority imbalances in society.

She also points issues regarding human rights violation such as child labor and inadequate parental care which are still common in not only Africa but around the world.