Book description
In this sequel to The Flame of Thika, Elspeth Huxley takes up her story
after the family returns to Kenya after the First World War. Her family
and friends, their home and their travels, the glorious wildlife and
scenery, described in rich and loving detail, all spring to life in this
enchanting book. 'She knows East Africa and she loves it. . . with a
critical and understanding sympathy. ' The Times 'What a marvellous
writer. . . and what a Kenya it was. ' Financial Times Elspeth Huxley
was born in 1906, the daughter of Major Josceline Grant of Njoro, Kenya,
where she spent most of her childhood. She was educated at the European
School in Nairobi and at Reading University where she took a diploma in
agriculture, and at Cornell University, USA. In 1929 she joined the
Empire Marketing Board as a press officer. She married Gervas Huxley in
1931 and travelled widely with him in America, Africa and elsewhere. She
was on the BBC General Advisory Council from 1952 to 1959, when she
joined the Monckton Advisory Commision on Central Africa. She wrote
novels, detective fiction, biography and travel titles, and her books
include
The Flame Trees of Thika
(1959), The Challenge of Africa
(1971), Livingstone and His African Journeys
(1974), Florence Nightingale
(1975), Scott of the Antarctic
(1977), Nellie: Letter from Africa
(1980), Whipsnade: Captive Breeding for Survival
(1981), The Prince Buys the Manor
(1982), Last Days in Eden
(1985, with Hugo van Lawick) and Out in the Midday Sun: My Kenya
(1985). She died in 1997.
