The Africa House - The True Story Of An English Gentleman And His African Dream (Paperback, New Ed)

The true story of how in 1927 the wealthy romantic imperialist Stewart Gore-Browne built a palatial mansion complete with tower, library, gardens and servants' quarters (for his uniformed black staff) in the middle of the African bush where he lived with an orphan girl half his age. It is unclear whether we should see this bizarre and ultimately disastrous enterprise in retrospect as a piece of English eccentricity or as an imperialist racist fantasy. Either way this is an unusual story, well told. (Kirkus UK)

In the last decades of the British Empire, Stewart Gore-Browne built himself a feudal paradise in Northern Rhodesia; a sprawling country estate modelled on the finest homes of England, complete with uniformed servants, daily muster parades, rose gardens and lavish dinners finished off with vintage port in the library. He wanted to share it with the love of his life, the beautiful, unconventional Ethel Locke King, one of the first women to drive and fly. She, however, was nearly twenty years his senior, married and his aunt. Lorna, the only other woman he had ever really cared for, had married another many years earlier. Then he met Lorna's orphaned daughter, so like her mother that he thought he had seen a ghost. It seemed he had found companionship and maybe even love - but the Africa House was his dream and it would be a hard one to share. Christina Lamb's best-selling account of this fascinating and complicated man - a colonialist who beat his servants yet supported independence, a stiff Englishman with deep passions - is a masterpiece of biographical storytelling. It is a tale of fantasies made real, tragedy endured and life-long love.

General

Imprint:	Penguin Books Ltd
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	June 2000
Authors:	Christina Lamb
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 27mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	352
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-14-026834-8
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
LSN:	0-14-026834-0
Barcode:	9780140268348

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!