January meeting "Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness" by Alexandra Fuller

I think this book wins best title EVER.  Hands down.  Cocktail Hour is the second memoir about the Fullers' lives in Africa---Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, between the 60s and the present.  Think about it.  Nicola Fuller, Alexandra's mum, is from a tough Scottish family with an estate on the Isle of Skye--although Nicola was raised in Africa.

“Nicola Fuller of Central Africa, as she has on occasion preferred to introduce herself” — had always wanted a writer in the family, “not only because she loves books and has therefore always wanted to appear in them (the way she likes large, expensive hats, and likes to appear in them) but also because she has always wanted to live a fabulously romantic life, for which she needed a reasonably pliable witness as scribe.”  --from CHUTTOF

Kenya during Nicola Fuller's growing up years sounds great to me---country clubs, horseback riding, fancy-dress parties, tea parties with the neighbor's chimpanzee---of course the catch is, if you were white.  The Fullers love Africa so much that they stay on through the Mau Mau Rebellion, and after that, the Rhodesian war.  They move from one place to another trying to farm, which has always been her husband Tim's dream.  When things get too tough where they are, they have to move.  What's tough?  Oh, land minds, kidnappings--you know, the usual.

Through the years the family copes with horrible losses, including two children who die in infancy and one who dies shortly after birth.  Nicola is institutionalized for a time.  But they're still in Africa and planning to be buried there. Would I have stayed?  I don't think I'm woman enough to withstand armies, rebels and really scary animals (puff adder in the shed--help!), but I would like to hear Nicola talking about some of it in a cool british accent, full of keep calm and carry on.

Beautifully written---I want to experience the 'perfect equatorial light' of Kenya! 

For beautiful photos like this one, see Alexandra Fuller's website,  http://alexandrafuller.org.