Review
`A frank and unvarnished portrait of life behind the headlines, sharpened by details from the author's own Zimbabwean girlhood' --Daily Mail
`In her debut novel, Andrea Eames captures brilliantly the atmosphere of corroding trust that pervades the Coopers' farm'...`The sands of trust are forever shifting and Eames's description of how the two groups steer around and at times into each other crackles with tension and authenticity'...`Eames is a young writer with talent, whose novel tackles matters of substance' --The Guardian
`Eames's writing style is youthful and straight forward with occasional forages into really quite lyrical prose. Its freshness makes the book a deceptively easy read, but in no way does it undermine the seriousness and disturbing nature of the story' --Bookmunch.com
`Eames is a fluent and engaging writer and this debut novel signals real promise for her future' --The Independent
`This is a highly readable and engrossing addition to the many tragic stories of Mugabe's Zimbabwe' --Big Issue in the North
`This is a touching and assured debut, deceptively complex as Eames must work hard to get the balance between a young girl's development and the crisis in her home country just right, be careful not to let the personal either overwhelm or disappear. That she achieves this is a testament to her powers...Eames is definitely one to watch' --The Scotsman
Book Description
Product Description
Elise loves the farm that is her home; she loves playing with beetles and chameleons in the garden, buying sweets from the village shop and listening to the stories of spirits and charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl in 1990s Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. Her clothes are always clean and ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gin and tonics are served on the veranda, and, in theory at least, black and white live in harmony.
However this dream-world of her childhood cannot last. As Elise gets older, her eyes are opened to the complexities of adult existence, both through the changes wrought in her family by the arrival of her step-father Steve, and through her growing understanding of the tensions in Zimbabwean society. As Mugabe's presidency turns sour, the privileged world of the white farmers begins to crumble into anarchy.
The Cry of the Go-Away Bird follows Elise as she attempts to make sense of her place in the world while her family struggle to stay afloat in the collapsing economy and escalating horror that surrounds them. As the violence intensifies and the farm invasions begin, Elise and her family are forced to confront difficult choices and the ancient unforgiving ghosts of the past.
From the Back Cover
Elise loves the farm that is her home; she loves playing with beetles and chameleons in the garden, buying sweets from the village shop and listening to the stories of spirits and charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl in 1990s Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. Her clothes are always clean and ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gin and tonics are served on the veranda, and, in theory at least, black and white live in harmony.
However this dream-world of her childhood cannot last. As Elise gets older, her eyes are opened to the complexities of adult life, both through the changes wrought in her family by the arrival of her step-father Steve, and through her growing understanding of the tensions in Zimbabwean society. As Mugabe's presidency turns sour, the privileged existence of the white farmers begins to crumble into anarchy.
The Cry of the Go-Away Bird follows Elise as she attempts to make sense of her place in the world while her family struggles to stay afloat in the collapsing economy and escalating horror that surrounds them. As the violence intensifies and the farm invasions begin, Elise is forced to confront difficult choices and the ancient unforgiving ghosts of the past.
