Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness

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Fuller, Alexandra, 1969-

Fuller, Alexandra

Athens Drive Community
Middle Creek Community
North Regional
Oberlin Regional

Biography

Athens Drive Community - Biography
Middlecreek Community - Biography
North Regional - Biography
Oberlin Regional - Biography

In this sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, the author returns to Africa and the story of her unforgettable family. In this book she braids a multilayered narrative around the perfectly lit, Happy Valley era Africa of her mother's childhood; the boiled cabbage grimness of her father's English childhood; and the darker, civil war torn Africa of her own childhood. At its heart, this is the story of Fuller's mother, Nicola. Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye and raised in Kenya, Nicola holds dear the kinds of values most likely to get you hurt or killed in Africa: loyalty to blood, passion for land, and a holy belief in the restorative power of all animals. The author interviewed her mother at length and has captured her inimitable voice with remarkable precision. We see Nicola and Tim Fuller in their lavender colored honeymoon period, when east Africa lies before them with all the promise of its liquid equatorial light, even as the British empire in which they both believe wanes. But in short order, an accumulation of mishaps and tragedies bump up against history until the couple finds themselves in a world they hardly recognize. We follow the Fullers as they hopscotch the continent, running from war and unspeakable heartbreak, from Kenya to Rhodesia to Zambia, even returning to England briefly. But just when it seems that Nicola has been broken entirely by Africa, it is the African earth itself that revives her. A story of survival and madness, love and war, loyalty and forgiveness, this book is an intimate exploration of the author's family. In the end we find Nicola and Tim at a coffee table under their Tree of Forgetfulness on the banana and fish farm where they plan to spend their final days. In local custom, the Tree of Forgetfulness is where villagers meet to resolve disputes and it is here that the Fullers at last find an African kind of peace. -- From publisher.

Book
eBook

Books
eBook

dec15f77-8f8a-fa4b-776e-536569d191b6

9780143121343
9781101517703
9781594202995
9781594203169

2025-05-09T09:13:32.453Z

-1

Non Fiction

Non Fiction

B FULLER

Wake County Public Libraries

Athens Drive Community
Middle Creek Community
North Regional
Oberlin Regional

9780143121343

2011
2012

Penguin Books
Penguin Publishing Group

grouped_work

British -- Zimbabwe -- Biography
Fuller, Alexandra, -- 1969- -- Childhood and youth
Fuller, Alexandra, -- 1969- -- Family
Fuller, Nicola, -- 1944-
Mothers and daughters -- Zimbabwe -- Biography
Women -- Zimbabwe -- Biography
Zimbabwe -- Biography
Zimbabwe -- History -- 1965-1980
Zimbabwe -- Social life and customs

Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness / Alexandra Fuller

Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness

Biography & Autobiography
British
Childhood and youth
Family
Family & Relationships
Fuller, Alexandra
Fuller, Nicola
History
Mothers and daughters
Nonfiction
Social life and customs
Women