In Brief: Fictionalised history of the cultural changes faced by native tribes in Kenya.
Review: Usually recounting her Kenyan childhood, Huxley uses the novel to document the lives of the tribes that surrounded and fascinated her. Based on conversations with Kikuyu elders, we follow three generations from cattle wars with the Maasai and a firm belief in magic, to being perplexed, robbed and exploited by civilised white/red people, and finally accepting the superiority of Western culture, rejecting both harmful superstition and notions of respect along the way. Confusion over metal discs being worth more than goats, and converting to Christianity after taking a second wife are but two of the cultural shifts brilliantly conveyed. Mesmerising.
(4/5)
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