Description
The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, was a glamorous and optimistic woman who married a man from East Africa. They had two golden children, a girl and a boy. However, their life became increasingly difficult and they moved to Rhodesia to work as farm managers. The previous farm manager had committed suicide, and Nicola's husband and son saw his ghost. Shortly after this, one of their golden children died. Nicola and her husband returned to England, where the author was born, before they returned to Rhodesia and to the civil war. The last part of the book sees Nicola and her husband on a banana and fish farm in the Zambezi Valley. They had built their dining room under the Tree of Forgetfulness. In local custom, this tree is the meeting place for villagers determined to resolve disputes. Nicola finally forgot her enemies, but did not forgive her daughter. This is a story of survival and madness, love and war, passion and compassion.
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness tells the story of the author's mother, Nicola Fuller. Nicola Fuller and her husband were a glamorous and optimistic couple and East Africa lay before them with the promise of all its perfect light, even as the British Empire in which they both believed waned. They had everything, including two golden children - a girl and a boy. However, life became increasingly difficult and they moved to Rhodesia to work as farm managers. The previous farm manager had committed suicide. His ghost appeared at the foot of their bed and seemed to be trying to warn them of something. Shortly after this, one of their golden children died. Africa was no longer the playground of Nicola's childhood. They returned to England where the author was born before they returned to Rhodesia and to the civil war. The last part of the book sees the Fullers in their old age on a banana and fish farm in the Zambezi Valley. They had built their ramshackle dining room under the Tree of Forgetfulness. In local custom, this tree is the meeting place for villagers determined to resolve disputes. It is in the spirit of this Forgetfulness that Nicola finally forgot - but did not forgive - all her enemies including her daughter and the Apostle, a squatter who has taken up in her bananas with his seven wives and forty-nine children. Funny, tragic, terrifying, exotic and utterly unself-conscious, this is a story of survival and madness, love and war, passion and compassion.
Review:
Fuller's narrative is a love story to Africa and her family. She plumbs her family story with humor, memory, old photographs and a no-nonsense attitude toward family foibles, follies and tragedy. The reader is rewarded with an intimate family story played out against an extraordinary landscape, told with remarkable grace and style. --MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE
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