The Gnome King reviewed The Ukimwi road by Dervla Murphy
Review of 'The Ukimwi road' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
My first book by Dervla Murphy and what an incredible woman she is, completely blown away by what she achieves in this book. A woman who may be physically old, but does not feel that one bit, cycles across sub-Saharan Africa, during summer, on her own, no back up team, just relying on her wits and the kindness of strangers.
No amount of preparation would have got Dervla ready for what she was going to experience on this journey, the devastation left by white rulers, malaria, tsetse and AIDS makes for some hard reading. Dervla doesn't shy away from the topic of AIDS, she tells it how it is, she expresses her feelings well and scolds herself when she thinks western thoughts. She faces many challenges, meets some incredible people who are fighting the AIDS outbreak and for women's rights in Africa. The generosity of those who have so little …
My first book by Dervla Murphy and what an incredible woman she is, completely blown away by what she achieves in this book. A woman who may be physically old, but does not feel that one bit, cycles across sub-Saharan Africa, during summer, on her own, no back up team, just relying on her wits and the kindness of strangers.
No amount of preparation would have got Dervla ready for what she was going to experience on this journey, the devastation left by white rulers, malaria, tsetse and AIDS makes for some hard reading. Dervla doesn't shy away from the topic of AIDS, she tells it how it is, she expresses her feelings well and scolds herself when she thinks western thoughts. She faces many challenges, meets some incredible people who are fighting the AIDS outbreak and for women's rights in Africa. The generosity of those who have so little really hits you hard and Dervla does handle her emotions well in this book, so easily a situation could have grown into a full blown rant.
You can really see why Dervla is such a renowned writer, her fearless writing gives the journey an epic feel. I'm really looking forward to getting another of her books.
Blog review is here> felcherman.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/the-ukimwi-road-by-dervla-murphy/