markm reviewed The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Joscelin Grant Huxley
Review of 'The Mottled Lizard' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This memoir is the sequel to the Flame Trees of Thika. The story picks up after the author's return to Africa from England after the First World War and continues until she leaves for college. I think I was most struck by the extent of the author's preserved detailed memories of the colonial Kenya of her childhood. I thought the strength of the story was its characters, human and animal. Nostalgia for colonial Africa certainly has its problems for the modern reader, but the author was thoughtful and occasionally addresses the problems of the settler's relationship with native peoples and with the hunting of native wildlife that is now approaching extinction.