August 2012: Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness

Moving now to the African continent, we'll read about the story of Nicola Fuller and her journey through the book "Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness" by Alexandra Fuller.

Here's a Book Summary:
In this book Alexandra Fuller returns to Africa and to her unforgettable family. At the heart of this family, and central to the lifeblood of her latest story, is Fuller’s iconically courageous mother, Nicola. Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye to a warlike clan of highlanders and raised in Kenya's perfect equatorial light, Nicola holds dear the 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.

We see Nicola as an irrepressible child in western Kenya, then with the man who fell in love with her, Tim Fuller. The young couple begin their life in a lavender colored honeymoon period, when east Africa lies before them with all the promise of its liquid honeyed light, even as the British empire in which they both once believed wanes. But in short order, an accumulation of mishaps and tragedies bump up against history until the Fullers find themselves in a world they hardly recognize.

A story of survival and war, love and madness, loyalty and forgiveness, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is an intimate exploration of the author’s family and of the price of being possessed by this uncompromising, fertile, death-dealing land.

We'll be meeting in the Van Ness area at the Quetzal Cafe on Sunday August 19 at 2pm!

Next books to read:
September 2012 - Honor Lost: Love And Death In Modern Day Jordan by Norma Khouri
October 2012 - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant