Sensitive novel about a wild American girl revisiting her 1960s youth growing up in British Kenya, by exploring the possible involvement of her alcoholic, financially corrupt father in two murder cases involving adulterous married women.

The reason for revisiting her stumping ground is the recent passing away of her lonely father (his body was only found days after his passing away, she discovers). Ellie has always been on the run for her father, since she carries a secret that sheds light on her father’s involvement in the killing of Mrs McMullen, their Nairobi neighbour who was married to a medical doctor. As a young girl Ellie has witnessed a sexual escapade between Mrs McMullen and her violent, alcoholic father.

The initial idea behind her revisit is to collect her father’s belongings and put a definite end to the sorry history of her estranged father and mother, who eloped when Ellie was ten, with a new American husband, who ultimately took them to the USA. When Ellie hears she has inherited 3 million US dollars from her father, her initial reaction is to donate the money to a lofty cause. This inclination is reinforced when she finds out, through conversations with former business partners and the family solicitor, how her father managed to syphon so much money out of Kenya into an off-shore account (fiddling with import and export data on innocent trade goods, something the later African rulers in Kenya also proved exceptionally well vested in – think of the gold scheme of Arap Moi cs). And this is one the key theme’s addressed in this exceptionally well written novel: the racial and financial corruption of the British expats in both colonial and post-colonial Kenya.

When Ellie digs up the hidden trunk with the farewell letter written by Mrs McMullen that she buried in the garden, at the exhortation of the African house staff anxious to avoid prosecution for the demise of white Mrs McMullen, she discovers that the content of the letter has faded away. With her suspicions unconfirmed (she suspects with hindsight that her father killed Mrs Mc Mullen, to prevent her from revealing her illicit relationship with him), she decides to do her own investigation on Mrs McMullen’s demise on account of a tragic suicide.

Thus she traces the trail back in time, interviewing the few remaining expats that had some involvement (Police Detectives, former friends, and ultimately Dr McMullen, who has gone native in some remote village). She also digs into Police files and receives help from a former African Police staffer. Thus she discovers another suspicious murder case involving a German woman, found murdered in the veld in 1960, allegedly killed by a gang of African robbers. Ellie suspects the German wife was also one of her father’s victims, but all expat officials she speaks to, insist the case is typical of a racially motivated murder. In the process Ellie unveils the racist and licentious morale of British colonial Africa for which an omerta exists amongst its perpetrators. In the end both cases remain unresolved with Doctor McMullen playing a (self-deluding?) decisive role. Ellie starts walking into the bush, the only true and sincere actor in the story… ( )

I really liked this book. Why? I'm not entirely sure. I guess it is a combination of several things. The style of writing: the story is seen from the perspective of mother Helen and daughter Ellie. Story of Ellie, who is still suffering from things done to her in her childhood and by going back to Africa, she needs to come to terms with her memories in order to live the rest of her life in more peace than she has known so far.
The descriptions of Africa (Kenya, for the most part) and its inhabitants, the way the colonialists were looking at the native inhabitants (if they were looking at, listening toor thinking about them at all). ( )

Ellie was born in Africa, but her and her mother fled an alcoholic and physically abuusive husband/father and eventually ended up in the US. The story is of Ellie going back to Africa after her father's death to try and learn the truth about him. Ellie believes the worst but finds out the facts are not black and white. She also learns a lot about herself and why she runs from relationships and commitment. The story starts out good, beautiful descriptions of East Africa, but the ending is a bit of a disappointment. ( )