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FREE THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA: MEMORIES OF AN AFRICAN CHILDHOOD PDF Elspeth Huxley | 288 pages | 24 Feb 2000 | Penguin Putnam Inc | 9780141183787 | English | New York, NY, United States The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood : Elspeth Huxley : When Elspeth Huxley's pioneer father buys a remote plot of land in Kenya, the family sets off to discover their new home: five hundred acres of Kenyan scrubland, infested with ticks and white ants, and quavering with heat. What they lack in know-how they make up for in The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood building a grass house, employing local Kikuyu tribe members and painstakingly transforming their patch of wilderness into a working farm. Huxley's unforgettable childhood memoir is a sensitive account of The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood life at the turn of the twentieth century and a love song to the harshness and beauty of East Africa. Elspeth Huxley. Elspeth Huxley was born inthe daughter of Major Josceline Grant of Njoro, Kenya, where she spent most of her childhood. In she joined the Empire Marketing Board as a press officer. She married Gervas Huxley in and travelled widely with him in America, Africa and elsewhere. She dies in She knows East Africa and she loves it - the people, black and white, and the wild beauty of its countryside - with a critical and understanding sympathy. An accomplished story-teller, she weaves anecdotes, character The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood, political history together without losing her thread or the reader's momentum. Search books and authors. Buy from…. View all online retailers. The extraordinary adventures of a childhood in Africa, recalled in rich and loving detail. Also by Elspeth Huxley. An enchantment and a joy to read Books and Bookmen She knows East Africa and she loves it - the people, black and white, and the wild beauty of its countryside - with a critical and understanding sympathy The Times An accomplished story-teller, she weaves anecdotes, character sketches, political history together without losing her thread or the reader's momentum Sunday Times What a marvellous writer Related titles. Rising Strong. The BFG. Beyond Good And Evil. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Roald DahlQuentin Blake. The Diary of a Young Girl. Ned Kelly. Down Under. Lean In. The Accidental Anthropologist. I Dreamed Of Africa. Up in the Old Hotel. Without Ever Reaching the Summit. The Sun and Her Stars. North Korea Journal. Our top books, exclusive content and competitions. Straight to your inbox. Sign up to our newsletter using your email. Enter your email to sign up. Thank you! Your subscription to Read More was successful. To help us recommend your next book, tell us what you enjoy reading. Add your interests. The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood by Elspeth Huxley In an open cart Elspeth Huxley set off with her parents to travel to Thika in Kenya. As pioneering settlers, they built a house of grass, ate off a damask cloth spread over packing cases, and discovered—the hard way—the world of the African. With an extraordinary gift for detail and a keen sense of humor, Huxley recalls her childhood on the small farm at a time when Europeans waged their fortunes on a land that was as harsh as it was beautiful. For a young girl, it was a time of adventure and freedom, and Huxley paints an unforgettable portrait of growing up among the Masai and Kikuyu people, discovering both the beauty and the terrors of the The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood, and enduring the rugged realities of the pioneer life. Elspeth Huxley was born in and spent most of her childhood in Kenya. She wrote novels, detective fiction, biographies, and travel books. She died in When you buy a book, we donate a book. Sign in. Join Our Authors for Virtual Events. Feb 01, ISBN Add to Cart. Also available from:. Available from:. Paperback —. Also in Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin. Product Details. Inspired by Your Browsing History. Land of a Thousand Hills. Education of a Wandering Man. Falling Leaves. Adeline Yen Mah. The The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood Path. Raynor Winn. Without Reservations. Alice Steinbach. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Alexandra Fuller. Cathedral of the Wild. Touch the Top of the World. Erik Weihenmayer. Out of Africa. Isak Dinesen. The Sex Lives of Cannibals. Maarten Troost. Dreams in a Time of War. Foreign Correspondence. Geraldine Brooks. Those Wild Wyndhams. Claudia Renton. The Sisters of Sinai. Janet Soskice. Tears of the Desert. 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Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. In an open cart Elspeth Huxley set off with her parents to travel to Thika in Kenya. As pioneering settlers, they built a house of grass, ate off a damask cloth spread over packing cases, and discovered—the hard way—the world of the African. With an extraordinary gift for detail and a keen sense of humor, Huxley recalls her childhood on the small farm at a time when Europe In an open cart Elspeth Huxley set off with her parents to travel to Thika in Kenya. With an extraordinary gift for detail and a keen sense of humor, Huxley recalls her childhood on the small farm at a time when Europeans waged their fortunes on a land that was as harsh as it was beautiful. For a young girl, it was a time of adventure and freedom, and Huxley paints an unforgettable portrait of growing up among the Masai and Kikuyu people, discovering both the beauty and the terrors of the jungle, and enduring the rugged realities of the pioneer life. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published February 1st by Penguin Classics first published More Details Original Title. Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs 1. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood about The Flame Trees of Thikaplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Flame Trees of Thika. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Jan 31, Ferris rated it it was amazing. The daughter of two financially strapped, adventurous, and eternally optimistic parents, Elspeth recounts life in Thika in the bush of Kenya, where she spent her youth amongst the Kikuyu and Masai. She lived with nature, with superstitions, with death and love, and certainly writes about it all with great equanimity. She is able to cap "The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood" by Elspeth Huxley, is an absolutely lovely recollection of childhood as it should be for every child. She The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood able to capture the way a child hovers around the fringe of certain events, yet seems to understand events with a certain unique wisdom. It is a wonderful book. The writing is excellent, the story actually quite amazing, and the people are fascinating, one and all. Read it! View 1 comment. Great stuff. As others have said, the highlight of the book is the flavor of the East Africa of a century ago: sights, sounds, smells, animals, people. She was a wonderful writer. Not to be missed, if you are interested in East Africa, or this era. The cover photo on the Penguin rep Great stuff. The cover photo on the Penguin reprint, of the author, her Mom, and her pony aroundis a fine preview of her story. The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood is very nice country indeed. My parents lived in Kenya in the late s. Their house was at ft. They had a view of Kilimanjaro from their front windows, and of Mt. Kenya from the back. This was an old British agricultural research station. She went back to England with her mother in I think or earlyafter the beginning of WW1. She returned with her parents after the War, and left Kenya for good in to go to college in England. She did become a well-regarded novelist. Thika is now an industrial town of abouton the outskirts of Nairobi, served by an 8-lane superhighway, and the rest of the country has changed drastically too. When we were kids we played in a field down the street from our house.