This article offers a sustained feminist reading of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood, arguing that the novel articulates a radical critique of patriarchy that is inseparable from its condemnation of neo-colonial capitalism. While Ngũgĩ is frequently read primarily as a Marxist and anti-imperialist writer, this study contends that Petals of Blood also constructs a powerful gender-conscious narrative in which women’s bodies, labour, and voices become crucial sites of resistance against both colonial residues and post-independence bourgeois exploitation. Through close textual analysis, the article examines the representation of key female characters—Wanja, Nyakinyua, Mariamu, and the other marginalized women of Ilmorog—to demonstrate how Ngũgĩ exposes the structural violence of patriarchy, including sexual exploitation, economic dispossession, and moral double standards, as foundational to neo-colonial society. Particular attention is paid to Wanja’s complex characterization, which resists reductive moral judgments and instead foregrounds female agency, survival, and political consciousness within oppressive material conditions. By situating women’s experiences alongside class struggle and historical memory, Ngũgĩ challenges masculinist nationalist narratives that marginalize women after independence. The article further argues that Ngũgĩ’s feminist vision is not liberal or individualist but collective and materialist, aligning women’s liberation with broader struggles against capitalism and imperialism. Ultimately, this study repositions Petals of Blood as a text that anticipates African feminist critiques by foregrounding the gendered dimensions of exploitation and by insisting that any authentic postcolonial liberation must dismantle patriarchy alongside class oppression. In doing so, the article contributes to ongoing critical debates about gender, nationalism, and radical aesthetics in African literature.