Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight
An African Childhood
Alexandra Fuller

Recommendation: Title
Alexandra Fuller was born in England but brought up in central Africa - Rhodesia, Zambia and Malawi as part of an eccentric but not wholly dysfunctional family. The main cause of this was their pretty, frequently drunk mother, compounded by the political conditions of the time. Her father was recruited to fight in the Rhodesian war of independence, leaving Bo and her older sister Vanessa on the family farm in the care of their mother and the servants. Her mother copes admirably most of the time, making the farm profitable by sheer hard work. The sibling rivalry between Bo and Vanessa comes across strongly, but so too does the family sense of pulling together in the face of adversity and tragedy, of which there is plenty, including the loss of no less than 3 of the 5 children. It is amazing that Bo grows up as sane as she obviously is, and it is only in the final chapter, when she has left home, that her mother is finally diagnosed as manic depressive and put on medication.
Whilst by no means a “misery memoir” Alexandra says some harsh things about her parents, portraying them in a wickedly comic manner most of the time. Her descriptions of what life in these countries was like for “expats-like-us” are revealing.
Verdict: An Unexpectedly compelling read.
January 2010