Call number
967 G
Collection
Genres
Publication
Penguin UK (2007), 352 pages
Description
This autobiography tells the story of an Italian woman whose life is driven by love of Africa. The prologue covers a string of deaths which shaped Kuki Gallmann's life including that of a woman friend who died in a car crash. The widower, Paulo (who then married Kuki), his two daughters and Kuki's son by a previous marriage all went to Kenya and bought a large estate. Paulo died in an accident and Kuki's son died aged 17, bitten by one of his own puff-adders. Kuki had a couple of affairs - one with a married white planter, another with a film stuntman who involved her in the film Out of Africa. Finally she set up a foundation which in fact is more like a private wildlife park.
User reviews
LibraryThing member maboeln
I really, really struggled with this and eventually, when it came to such a full and disturbing description of the murder of an elephant, I gave up and threw it out. Way too laborious. Sorry, not my cup of tea.
LibraryThing member KendraRenee
GREAT book! At first I was prepared to take issue with the whole founding premise of this book: Europeans buying land in Kenya that originally belonged to native African tribes. But at least this woman, Kuki Gallman, didn't abuse what she called her "privilege" and reponsibility to care for the
The overarching narrative above/behind all of that--that of the Gallmans' experience in Kenya--is very well-written and often heart-breaking. I was crying practically all the way through. If you like a good cry, read this book. It's very cleansing. Once you read it, you feel like you've been there, and lived through all of what Kuki did. Highly recommend.
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land. She worked really hard to protect the wildlife from poachers, beautify and preserve the land, and coexist peacefully with the native Kenyans. All her work has earned international recognition, and her land is still one of the most beautiful, best-preserved places in Kenya.The overarching narrative above/behind all of that--that of the Gallmans' experience in Kenya--is very well-written and often heart-breaking. I was crying practically all the way through. If you like a good cry, read this book. It's very cleansing. Once you read it, you feel like you've been there, and lived through all of what Kuki did. Highly recommend.
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LibraryThing member Estrela
Sickening. It's a book about a woman obsessed with her own grief. I've never read so many descriptions of accidents, wakes and funerals in the same book. Even the dog's funeral is described! The Africans are just hollow characters, invisible servants with no identity that only serve to say 'sorry
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for your loss'. Worst thing I read in years! Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
This has got to be one of the most heart wrenching yet uplifting books I have ever read about one woman's life experiences in Africa. After divorcing her first husband Kuki marries the widower of a friend (Kuki survives the same car accident that her friend did not). Paolo convinces Kuki and her
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young son to move to Kenya, a far cry from the life of privilege in Italy. There, Kuki and her son, Emanuele Pirri-Gallman, fall in love with the land, the animals, and the people of Ol Ari Nyiro. Even after Paolo is killed in a tragic accident, Kuki is determined to stay in Africa. Pregnant with his child, Kuki buries Paolo at the ranch and continues to carry out their dreams. Three years later, even after her seventeen year old son dies of a lethal snake bite, Kuki is even more determined to stay on the ranch. She buries Ema next to Paolo and slowly, through grief and time, finds new purpose to her life. Show Less
LibraryThing member nancynova
Have the tissues handy for the first 2/3 of the book. Her emotions and ties to her new homeland are impressive, as is her fight to provide habitat for the decimated species and thwart poaching. The pictures are a lovely addition
LibraryThing member Whisper1
This is an intense book written by a woman who experienced many tragedies, but she keeps a kind, uplifting spirit throughout.
She loses a husband, gains a husband.
She loses a son to a lethal snake bite; she gains a baby daughter via a pregancny with husband number two.
She loses husband number
Personally, I've always wanted to go to Africa. But, I will keep this as a dream because it is so beautiful and yet so very dangerous.
Highly recommended! This is a tear jearker, worth reading.
She loses a husband, gains a husband.
She loses a son to a lethal snake bite; she gains a baby daughter via a pregancny with husband number two.
She loses husband number
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two.Personally, I've always wanted to go to Africa. But, I will keep this as a dream because it is so beautiful and yet so very dangerous.
Highly recommended! This is a tear jearker, worth reading.
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Pages
352
ISBN
0141033185 / 9780141033181