Publisher's Weekly
Set largely in Kenya around the turn of the century, when European colonialism there was at its height, this robust and historically authentic tale centers on the efforts of a Scottish engineer to build a railroad from Mombasa to Uganda, in the heart of the wild continent. John Andrewessp ok? em pursues his goal undaunted by hostile natives, wild animals, squabbles among his workers, German competition and the forbidding terrain through which he must blast his way; but his greatest trial comes in the form of a colleague with whom he is forced to share his young wife's affections. Halkin, who worked as a BBC producer in Kenya, is at pains to capture the viewpoint not only of the colonists but of the Kikuyu and other tribesmen, who for the most part watched the white man's expropriation of their land with mounting alarm. It is a saga mixing adventure, violence and romance, populated with vivid characters and told with an evehandedness that does much to explain the conflicting tensions in this tumultuous period of Africa's development.
Library Journal
Halkin's setting is the eastern African area now known as Kenya in the period from the late 1800s to World War I. Scottish engineer John Andrewes arrives with his young wife, Hester, to build the Uganda Railway. He had performed a similar task in India; and many of the laborers are from India, imposing yet another culture on the fearful local tribes. Kamau, whose life becomes intertwined with that of John and Hester, represents one native viewpoint. Once the railway is built, John and Hester turn to farming. The story is interesting, describing living in the rough as the railroad is built, contending with epidemics and native attacks, and trying to establish an agrarian economy. Halkin is less successful in his depiction of characters and their motivations. Still, recommended for historical fiction collections. Ellen Kaye Stoppel, Drake Univ. Law Lib., Des Moines
Genre: Historical
Set largely in Kenya around the turn of the century, when European colonialism there was at its height, this robust and historically authentic tale centers on the efforts of a Scottish engineer to build a railroad from Mombasa to Uganda, in the heart of the wild continent. John Andrewessp ok? em pursues his goal undaunted by hostile natives, wild animals, squabbles among his workers, German competition and the forbidding terrain through which he must blast his way; but his greatest trial comes in the form of a colleague with whom he is forced to share his young wife's affections. Halkin, who worked as a BBC producer in Kenya, is at pains to capture the viewpoint not only of the colonists but of the Kikuyu and other tribesmen, who for the most part watched the white man's expropriation of their land with mounting alarm. It is a saga mixing adventure, violence and romance, populated with vivid characters and told with an evehandedness that does much to explain the conflicting tensions in this tumultuous period of Africa's development.
Library Journal
Halkin's setting is the eastern African area now known as Kenya in the period from the late 1800s to World War I. Scottish engineer John Andrewes arrives with his young wife, Hester, to build the Uganda Railway. He had performed a similar task in India; and many of the laborers are from India, imposing yet another culture on the fearful local tribes. Kamau, whose life becomes intertwined with that of John and Hester, represents one native viewpoint. Once the railway is built, John and Hester turn to farming. The story is interesting, describing living in the rough as the railroad is built, contending with epidemics and native attacks, and trying to establish an agrarian economy. Halkin is less successful in his depiction of characters and their motivations. Still, recommended for historical fiction collections. Ellen Kaye Stoppel, Drake Univ. Law Lib., Des Moines
Genre: Historical
Used availability for John Halkin's Kenya