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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
What an amazing story and what dedication to saving wildlife!
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
This was recommended by a good friend who knows how much I love elephants.
Daphne Sheldrick grew up in Kenya, on her parents farm. Her family had originally come to Africa in the early 1800s and learned to farm in the land grab of the developing British colony. It was not easy, but they survived and eventually ran a productive dairy.
The author does not go into too much of the history of the colony, but gives enough to create a sense of events as they concern the family as we follow them through two world wars and the Mau Mau rebellion and the end of British rule.
Both of Daphne's husbands were involved in conservation and the National Park Service and she provided unpaid services as well, especially in the area of raising orphans and ultimately releasing them back to the wild. After the death of her second husband, she continued their work with the orphans through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Part history, part love story, part conservation effort. Hers is a life well lived.
Daphne Sheldrick grew up in Kenya, on her parents farm. Her family had originally come to Africa in the early 1800s and learned to farm in the land grab of the developing British colony. It was not easy, but they survived and eventually ran a productive dairy.
The author does not go into too much of the history of the colony, but gives enough to create a sense of events as they concern the family as we follow them through two world wars and the Mau Mau rebellion and the end of British rule.
Both of Daphne's husbands were involved in conservation and the National Park Service and she provided unpaid services as well, especially in the area of raising orphans and ultimately releasing them back to the wild. After the death of her second husband, she continued their work with the orphans through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Part history, part love story, part conservation effort. Hers is a life well lived.
Not enough elephants. Seriously, there were a lot of different animals in this book and I learned a lot about African fauna. I did wonder at one point how many generations of ex-pat Brits did one have to descend to finally feel Zimbabwean.
Writing that flowed easily- as Sheldrick turned her observant eye toward animals, landscape and the people directly in her life- was deeply marred by vehement defense of colonialism early in the book. I kept reading hoping the empathy and understanding she had towards wild creatures would somehow translate to the same for fellow humans and an awareness and recognition of the role of her “white settler” family in Kenya. Picked this up after learning of the great work of the Sheldrick Foundation with orphaned elephants, which I did find very interesting.
Author gushed entirely too much, flatters herself and takes credit which should be attributable to others. Her life was very interesting but she could have written less about how wonderful she is, how much she adored her perfect husband and come out with a super book. I found her entirely too irritating beyond belief. And while she emphasizes elephants, they played a much smaller part than represented on the cover and title.
Very vivid and well written, loved all the animal stories and the history was neat, but it seemed very very long.
Despite the incredible work that the Sheldrick Trust does, I could not drag myself through this book any longer. For starters:
“But it was apparent to us now that Britain was going for what my father called an outright sellout - simply ‘one man, one vote’ - which would in essence mean black majority rule. The settler community was a small minority in the colony and it was obviously unrealistic to expect to have any representation in an independent Kenyan government.”
Though this is the most outright racist statement I came across in the two-thirds of the book I read, the colonial attitudes and racial micro-aggressions are too embarrassing to continue to read.
“But it was apparent to us now that Britain was going for what my father called an outright sellout - simply ‘one man, one vote’ - which would in essence mean black majority rule. The settler community was a small minority in the colony and it was obviously unrealistic to expect to have any representation in an independent Kenyan government.”
Though this is the most outright racist statement I came across in the two-thirds of the book I read, the colonial attitudes and racial micro-aggressions are too embarrassing to continue to read.
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced