Category Archives: Africa

John Le Carre, “The Constant Gardener”

Posted on October 1, 2013 by carolwallace

I don’t go looking for bleakness, at least not these days. So I finished The Constant Gardener with some puzzlement. What is it that periodically draws me back to John Le Carré? He’s like that bad boyfriend who makes you feel … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, best seller, contemporary fiction | Tagged | 2 Comments

Douglas Rogers, “The Last Resort”

Posted on September 4, 2013 by carolwallace

Is it possible to be funny about the ruin of a country? Apparently so, if Douglas Rogers can set the example. What’s fair game is absurdity and people’s pretensions being punctured, but the humor has to make way for the … Continue reading →

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Barbara Trapido, “Sex and Stravinsky”

Posted on June 1, 2013 by carolwallace

Maybe there’s a pattern here. Maybe Barbara Trapido’s books are mostly based on fairy tales or theater pieces. I’ve been puzzling over her idiosyncratic blend of fantasy and realism. She has a remarkable way of enticing the reader into narratives … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, anglophilia, contemporary fiction | Tagged | 2 Comments

John Henry Patterson, “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”

Posted on April 1, 2013 by carolwallace

It’s about lions, folks, not wicked women. In fact no woman has a speaking part in The Man-Eaters of Tsavo; this is a strictly masculine adventure, and so securely rooted in its period that I wondered briefly whether it might … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, classic | 5 Comments

Mark Seal, “Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Death in Africa”

Posted on March 6, 2013 by carolwallace

Yes, another Africa book, but a more contemporary one. When I was in the Kenyan town of Naivasha about a month ago, we drove past a long stretch of sturdy iron fencing that had the initials “JR” worked into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, biography | 1 Comment

Alexandra Fuller, “Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness”

Posted on February 26, 2013 by carolwallace

After the brilliance of the title Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight for Alexandra Fuller’s earlier memoir, you might find Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness  a little clunky. In the same way, I began Cocktail Hour… with some skepticism. Was … Continue reading →

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Norman Rush, “Mating”

Posted on February 25, 2013 by carolwallace

Well, this was ambitious. A friend, hearing that I was headed to Africa, suggested Norman Rush’s Mating with the caveat, “It’s not everybody’s cup of tea.” I was completely won over by the narrative voice and the premise, though. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, contemporary fiction | Tagged | Leave a comment