Author | Christina Lamb |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Biography, Travel |
Publisher | Viking Penguin |
Publication date | 1999 Hardcover 01 Jun 2000 Paperback |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardcover and paperback) |
Pages | 380 (hardcover edition) 400 (Paperback edition) |
ISBN | 978-0-670-87727-0 (hardcover edition) 978-0-14-026834-8 (Penguin) |
OCLC | 40754887 |
Preceded by | Waiting for Allah |
The Africa House is a 1999 biography by British journalist and writer Christina Lamb. The book is subtitled The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream, and was published in London in 1999 by Viking Penguin.
The Africa House is an account of the life of soldier, pioneer white settler, politician and supporter of African independence Stewart Gore-Browne in relation to the building of his estate Shiwa Ngandu in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. [1] Originating with a chance encounter in 1996 with Gore-Browne's grandson in Lusaka, the book uses Gore-Browne's diaries, letters, personal papers and photographs as well as those of his family, and interviews with family and friends, as its sources.
Critical reception for The Africa House was mixed to positive.
The Seattle Times praised The Africa House, calling it 'a stunning description of a time, a place, a man and two countries' politics'. [2]
The Independent called the book a 'marvellous story' but criticized Lamb for 'the maddening device of putting feelings into people's minds' as well as stating that many of the pictures were 'printed too small to be easily identifiable'. [3] Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book was 'a cautionary but sympathetic story of a man obsessed, though less perniciously than most'. [4]
In an article for New Statesman , Graham Boynton positively reviewed The Africa House, writing that it 'is an important book, since not only does it tell the story of an extraordinary character but it also helps explain the place of the white man in Africa'.
Publishers Weekly gave a mixed review for The Africa House, saying the book was 'engaging and well crafted, although Lamb's attempts at dramatizing her subjects' emotional lives sometimes read like a romance novel, and her narrow focus on the house's history obscures the wider context of waning British empire'. [5]
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1983.
Shiwa Ngandu is an English-style country house and estate in Shiwang'andu District in the Muchinga Province of Zambia, previously in the Northern Province, about 12 kilometres west of the nearby Great North Road between Mpika and Chinsali. Its name is based on a small lake nearby, Lake Ishiba Ng'andu which in the Bemba language means 'lake of the royal crocodile'. The house itself is also known as "Shiwa House". It was the lifelong project of English aristocrat Sir Stewart Gore-Browne, who fell in love with the country after working on the Anglo-Belgian Boundary Commission determining the border between Rhodesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Lieutenant Colonel Sir Stewart Gore-Browne, called Chipembele by Zambians, was a soldier, pioneer white settler, builder, politician and supporter of independence in Northern Rhodesia.
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Andrea Stuart is a Barbadian-British historian and writer, who was raised in the Caribbean and the UK and now lives in the UK. Her biography of Josephine Bonaparte, entitled The Rose of Martinique, won the Enid McLeod Literary Prize in 2004. Although her three published books so far have been non-fiction, she has spoken of working on a novel set in the 18th century.
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Thomas Alan Graves is an American journalist, nonfiction writer, and novelist. He is best known as the author of Crossroads, a biography of blues musician Robert Johnson. He is also known for his work as a producer and writer for the film Best of Enemies. He co-owns the independent publishing company, The Devault-Graves Agency, and is a tenured Assistant Professor of English at LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis.
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