No Happy Valley: Shattered Colonial Dreams

A story of struggle conflict and passion set in 1950s Kenya during the Mau Mau insurrection.Peter Lawrence battles to build a place of his own in the raw African bush but the Kikuyu men who work for him are secret members of the Mau-Mau determined to take back their country.When Peters wife Jenny dies in an accident he falls in love with Rafiki a beautiful Kikuyu woman and finds himself ostracised by his own people.The author Guy Hallowes writes with an intimate knowledge of the country and sympathy for all its people.(I found the story a great page turner. It is a well constructed story with many intriguing threads running through it. It gallops along too and the story takes some unexpected turns which adds to the excitement.What I really liked about the book was its truthfulness. The descriptions of Kenya are wonderful.The fear and disquiet we all of every race and tribe felt during the Mau-Mau is awfully well drawn. Your affection and knowledge of the Kikuyu was evident and interesting.)