First published 2003
Alexandra Fuller documents her mother Nicola's experience as colonial East Africa transforms around her family. Nicola attempts to preserve her ideals of colonial refinement amid warfare and political chaos that drive the family from one country to another. Each relocation brings fresh grief and reawakens old traumas that shadow their movements across the continent. Nicola endures heartbreak and the disorientation of constant displacement. Military conflicts destroy her romantic notions of African life. The continent's landscape and essence slowly begin to mend her emotional injuries. Nicola and her husband find comfort under the mythical Tree of Forgetfulness, where remembrance and tranquility meet. Fuller shows how Africa first wounded then healed her mother.
Genres: historical-fiction, autobiography, memoir, biography-memoir, africa, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe
Period: 1965-1980, 1970-
Paperback · The penguin press
Content warnings: colonialism