Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

An African Childhood
by Alexandra Fuller

Memoir of the author's childhood in Africa - she grew up on various farms in Rhodesia, Malawi and Zimbabwe, during and just after the Rhodesian war for independence. It was a rough childhood to say the least. Her family was always struggling on poor land, whether it was for cattle ranching or raising tobacco. Drought, disease and violence were common. Her mother was a drunk, to put it mildly, and struggled with mental instability after loosing three of her children when they were very young. The author describes all the struggles they had with poverty, and then the moment of revelation when, as an older child, she finally stepped into the home of an African for the first time, and realized there was another level of deprivation altogether. All the details of growing up, with correspondence lessons and then boarding school, with treks into the bush and picnics on lake shores, with hyenas whooping at night and dogs forever crowded under their feet. Endless teasing from her older sister, casual racism towards servants and nannies. Bad roads, poor medical care, soldiers and checkpoints wherever they went. Blackouts, frequent power failures, unclean water, you name it. Came through it all with a fierce love for the country, which stayed with her, even after living in America later when she became married. Not much wildlife mentioned in the story- well, aside from snakes, rumors of leopards and baboons that lurk near. Mostly it's about the vast land, the people, the political upheaval and what it was like to live through all that as a kid. Reminiscent of The Flame Trees of Thika, and also in some ways Rules of the Wild.

Rating: 3/5                  315 pages, 2013

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