I Dreamed of Africa [Paperback]

Powerful, poetic, unbearably moving: I wept (Clare Francis )

'This is a book that belongs on a shelf with the memoirs of Olive Schreiner, Elspeth Huxley, Beryl Markham – and with Out of Africa Judith Thurman

Ms Gallmann captures perfectly the magic of Kenya, creating an almost overwhelming picture of beauty and drama, pain and joy, death and resurrection . . . Vividly reminiscent of Isak Dinesen (New York Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Powerful, poetic, unbearably moving: I wept Clare Francis 'This is a book that belongs on a shelf with the memoirs of Olive Schreiner, Elspeth Huxley, Beryl Markham - and with Out of Africa Judith Thurman Ms Gallmann captures perfectly the magic of Kenya, creating an almost overwhelming picture of beauty and drama, pain and joy, death and resurrection ... Vividly reminiscent of Isak Dinesen New York Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

This autobiography tells the story of an Italian woman whose life is driven by love of Africa. The prologue covers a string of deaths which shaped Kuki Gallmann's life including that of a woman friend who died in a car crash. The widower, Paulo (who then married Kuki), his two daughters and Kuki's son by a previous marriage all went to Kenya and bought a large estate. Paulo died in an accident and Kuki's son died aged 17, bitten by one of his own puff-adders. Kuki had a couple of affairs - one with a married white planter, another with a film stuntman who involved her in the film "Out of Africa". Finally she set up a foundation which in fact is more like a private wildlife park.

As a child, Kuki Gallmann discovered the singular magic of Africa. As an adult, she emigrates to Africa with her new husband, Paolo, and her son, Emanuele. Although it is the place she has waited for all her life, she never dreamed of the pain, passion, joy and hardship that were hidden in its vast beauty.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Kuki Gallmann was born near Venice and moved to Kenya in 1972 with her husband and young son. Following their deaths, she set up the Gallmann Memorial Foundation to promote new ways of combining development and conservation, and to provide sponsorship for the education of Kenyans. I Dreamed of Africa was first published in 1991 to international acclaim and it became a world-wide bestseller. Her subsequent books, African Nights and Night of the Lions, were also published by Penguin. She lives in Kenya with her daughter and her dogs. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.