Booklist Reviews
When her mother died, 12-year-old Rachel was sent from Kenya to live with her grandparents in England. Six years later, she returns, eager to resume what she remembers as an idyllic life on the remote farm her parents settled. But things have changed. Her father's new love interest, Sara, has taken Rachel's mother's place in the house. Relations with the Kikuyu who live and work on the farm have shifted. And there are disturbing stories about Mau Mau attacks against Europeans. As Rachel tries to come to terms with her new "sense of unbelonging," she crosses paths again with two men from the past, one a predatory district officer and the other a young African who once served as her tutor. With violence edging ever closer to the farm, Rachel's naïveté gives way to a growing awareness that nothing is as simple as she once believed. Though the ending tips into melodrama, McVeigh (The Fever Tree, 2013) does a good job of charting Rachel's growth amidst political and personal turmoil, set against a backdrop of Kenya's wild beauty. Copyright 2016 Booklist Reviews.
Library Journal Reviews
Returning to her father's farm in Kenya after six years in England, Rachel finds her childhood home vastly transformed. Everything, from her father's new girlfriend to the shifting political climate in Kenya, marks changes that make Rachel feel she no longer fits into the life she remembered. As the Mau Mau, a secret African society intent on overthrowing the British colonial rulers, gain power, Rachel's family is thrown into danger. When her father goes to defend his land, he leaves Rachel in the care of the deceitful and lecherous Steven. But Rachel carries a childhood secret that may protect her from Steven. With the Mau Mau getting closer, however, she will need something stronger to save her from such a deadly threat. The historical African setting plays a central role in this coming-of-age story and offers a sensory tour of the Kenyan savannah in the 1950s. Though the plot keeps the pages turning, the characters are unlikable and underdeveloped. VERDICT McVeigh's second novel (after The Fever Tree) may disappoint that book's admirers as this tale is far from heartwarming and not for those who want a happy ending. But fans of historicals in which setting is key, as in Frank Delaney's Irish epics, might appreciate. [See Prepub Alert, 8/1/16.]—Kristen Calvert Nelson, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL. Copyright 2016 Library Journal.
PW Annex Reviews
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