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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
An uncomfortable ode to Africa, riddled with all the vices of the 20s and a dash of well meaning western pomposity. That its heart is in the right place is not enough to make for comfortable reading.
Think Scarlett, Rhett and savannah.
Think Scarlett, Rhett and savannah.
I received this book as a ARC after winning a copy from Deanna Raybourn's website. I am so glad I was able to read it.
Delilah Drummond is sent to Kenya by her family to wait out a scandal that she has caused in Paris. She doesn't want to go but isn't given much choice. She lives a life that she choses and asks for forgiveness from no one. She and her cousing Dora head off to Kenya so she can avoid the scandal and continue to receive money from her grandfather. She had no idea what awaits her. She mets Ryder White when she and Dora get off the train. Needless to say it was not a friendly first meeting. She is continually at odds with him from the start.
Delilah meet her neighbors and spends time with them. She knows several of them from previous social engagements in the past. She starts a casual affair with a painter that she knew previously. She discovers that not everyone believes in freedom and rights like she does. She and Ryder are in agreement that the tribes should be treated with respect. She also finds that he challenges her to be a better person. She doesn't want to fall in love with him or Africa but she does gradually.
There is a lot to this book and I loved every minute of it. I don't read a lot of books set in colonial Africa or the 1920s. I enjoyed every aspect of this one. She did a good job a keeping my interests and making me invested in the characters and their lives.
Please read the prequel Far in the Wilds before reading this one. It gives you the background on Ryder and allows you to get a glimpse of what makes him tick.
Delilah Drummond is sent to Kenya by her family to wait out a scandal that she has caused in Paris. She doesn't want to go but isn't given much choice. She lives a life that she choses and asks for forgiveness from no one. She and her cousing Dora head off to Kenya so she can avoid the scandal and continue to receive money from her grandfather. She had no idea what awaits her. She mets Ryder White when she and Dora get off the train. Needless to say it was not a friendly first meeting. She is continually at odds with him from the start.
Delilah meet her neighbors and spends time with them. She knows several of them from previous social engagements in the past. She starts a casual affair with a painter that she knew previously. She discovers that not everyone believes in freedom and rights like she does. She and Ryder are in agreement that the tribes should be treated with respect. She also finds that he challenges her to be a better person. She doesn't want to fall in love with him or Africa but she does gradually.
There is a lot to this book and I loved every minute of it. I don't read a lot of books set in colonial Africa or the 1920s. I enjoyed every aspect of this one. She did a good job a keeping my interests and making me invested in the characters and their lives.
Please read the prequel Far in the Wilds before reading this one. It gives you the background on Ryder and allows you to get a glimpse of what makes him tick.
Wild child Delilah Drummond has been the subject of one too many controversies over the years. After the death of her current husband, her family bands together to force her to go to Africa to her stepfather's estate to wait until the scandal dies down. She takes her cousin Dora with her and when they arrive they find the house in shambles. Delilah isn't really sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't fixing up a house and doctoring the native tribes in the area. And it definitely wasn't meeting Ryder White a local guide.
I've read most of the Julia Grey series and I like it a lot. When I heard that she was writing this standalone book, I was skeptical. I needn't have worried. The book doesn't take long to get into, and I found myself not wanting it to end. The imagery Deanna Raybourn conjures up of Africa in the 20's was absolutely beautiful. Really made me wish I could have experienced something like this.
Delilah for all her faults, is a good character. I like seeing her on the edge of giviing up and slowly coming back from that edge. Gaining new perspective and life. Thought of as a wild child, Delilah hid herself behind all the wild partying and men because of past hurts. In Africa she discovers you have to put it away. Acknowledge it and put it away because if you lose focus in the wild you can die.
Ryder, too, was a good counterpart to Delilah. Both wounded and neither wanting to open the door of permanence. Somehow, they just fit together.
The main character, however, is Africa, as I said before I can't even tell you how well I thought Deanna Raybourn described the land and animals and natives.
I hope that maybe Raybourn will revisit these characters again, maybe in a short story or ebook. I would love to hear what they've been up to.
I've read most of the Julia Grey series and I like it a lot. When I heard that she was writing this standalone book, I was skeptical. I needn't have worried. The book doesn't take long to get into, and I found myself not wanting it to end. The imagery Deanna Raybourn conjures up of Africa in the 20's was absolutely beautiful. Really made me wish I could have experienced something like this.
Delilah for all her faults, is a good character. I like seeing her on the edge of giviing up and slowly coming back from that edge. Gaining new perspective and life. Thought of as a wild child, Delilah hid herself behind all the wild partying and men because of past hurts. In Africa she discovers you have to put it away. Acknowledge it and put it away because if you lose focus in the wild you can die.
Ryder, too, was a good counterpart to Delilah. Both wounded and neither wanting to open the door of permanence. Somehow, they just fit together.
The main character, however, is Africa, as I said before I can't even tell you how well I thought Deanna Raybourn described the land and animals and natives.
I hope that maybe Raybourn will revisit these characters again, maybe in a short story or ebook. I would love to hear what they've been up to.
First time reading Raybourn, won't be my last. This fabulous book delivers everything I'd hoped for long ago in Out of Africa, then polishes it with the Jazz sensibility of The English Patient. Africa isn't the setting, it is a character, like Australia in The Thorn Birds. Gorgeous, Gorgeous read.
4.5 stars really. I enjoyed this book set in Kenya in the 1920's very much. The main character Delilah is exiled to Kenya after one too many scandals in Paris. I really liked her feistiness!
one of my favorites that we've read for the club. Loved a heroine that has some serious confidence, I identified with her more than I have with a main in a long time.
A delightful story set in 1920s Africa starring a scandalous flapper.
Even from reading the summary beforehand, I still didn't know what to expect when I started reading this. It was a fast read, although I'm not sure if the reason for that was the writing style or the fact that the story just moved quickly. Regardless, I never really felt a lull in the story. While it took a little while for the story to get going, once it did, there was no stopping it.
I admit to not reading a whole lot of historical fiction set in Africa, but that was because the books always looked so stuffy. A Spear of Summer Grass managed to evoke the beauty of a country without gagging me with it.
The characters were fantastic, although I admit to not being able to keep some of them straight. The main character Delilah started out as a frivolous, flighty flapper, but her character growth made for great reading.
A fantastic read set in a rarely visited time and location.
Even from reading the summary beforehand, I still didn't know what to expect when I started reading this. It was a fast read, although I'm not sure if the reason for that was the writing style or the fact that the story just moved quickly. Regardless, I never really felt a lull in the story. While it took a little while for the story to get going, once it did, there was no stopping it.
I admit to not reading a whole lot of historical fiction set in Africa, but that was because the books always looked so stuffy. A Spear of Summer Grass managed to evoke the beauty of a country without gagging me with it.
The characters were fantastic, although I admit to not being able to keep some of them straight. The main character Delilah started out as a frivolous, flighty flapper, but her character growth made for great reading.
A fantastic read set in a rarely visited time and location.
Disappointing. Brittle sparkling woman exiled to Africa learns to love a place and a man again. Setting is interesting and characters have intriguing toughness, but their herky-jerky growth feels unexamined and unfulfilling. Problematic depictions of race. A disappointment because I'm a huge fan of her Julia Grey series.
I wasn't really sure what to think about this book at first. I swung between loving and hating the main character, and therefore between loving and hating the book. I don't read a lot of straight romance, but I'm really glad I read this one. The real romance here was between the protagonist and Africa itself. This book was a love letter to Africa, and the writing made me really feel like I was there. I enjoyed this book a lot. 4 1/2 stars.