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Kim
Rating:
Review
Reminiscent of The Poisonwood Bible (though fictional) and The Glass Castle, Ms. Fuller tells of her unconventional childhood growing up in Africa, with parents who tried going home to England when the author was a toddler, only to return to the often brutal and inhospitable continent in short order. Describing the many trials and tribulations (and I do mean, many) of living in such cruel conditions struck me more often as a love story the author has with her homeland, her siblings and parents, than a huge gripe session about growing up poor and white on a war-torn continent, and that's what makes this book interesting and thought-provoking. I must say that towards the end of the book, when Ms. Fuller's parents decide to move yet another time, I was surprised that they chose what sounded to be an even more god-forsaken place than what they were leaving. If you need a reason to count your blessings, give this book a read. Though maybe hard to believe, it is actually quite positive and uplifting.
Best Line:
"This cross-leggedness is a hangover from the brief period in Mum's life when she took up yoga from a book."
Suzanne
Rating:
Review
This was a hard memoir for me to get through. The writing's good, but I didn't enjoy it much, mainly because it was just one cruel, sad, or violent thing after another. Set in Rhodesia, Malawi, and Zambia in the 1970's and 1980's, beginning with Rhodesia's war for independence from Britain, the author's childhood voice tells it like it is without judgment. Raised in Africa since she can remember, Fuller feels thoroughly African, but she is white. It's a story of children with Uzis, outrageously alcoholic and racist parents, at least one of whom also had mental health problems, and an extremely harsh environment that leaves them sick much of the time. Her mother lost three of her five children, and I think the other two were lucky to live to adulthood growing up in the middle of war. It's clear that Fuller loves Africa, and she dedicates the book to her parents and siblings, but I cannot claim to understand why. Her older sister Van was usually mean to her, and the book made me feel very lucky indeed not to have been born or raised in that part of the world.
Best Line:
"In Rhodesia, we are born and then the umbilical cord of each child is sewn straight from the mother onto the ground, where it takes root and grows." (pg. 149)
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