When Robyn Scott was six years old her parents abruptly exchanged the tranquil pastures of New Zealand for a converted cowshed in the wilds of Botswana. Once there, Robyn and her siblings, mostly left to amuse themselves, grew up collecting snakes, canoeing with crocodiles and breaking in horses in the veld. In the shadow of one of Africa's worst AIDS crises, this moving, enchanting memoir is an extraordinary portrait of an unforgettable childhood.
Twenty Chickens For A Saddle
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'The nearest thing you will get to Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals in Africa and it is just as enchanting' Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller 'Beautifully written and lovingly told, Scott's book has the makings to be Out of Africa meets Running with Scissors' New York Times Book Review 'A fabulous read, rollicking, good-humoured and intensely sane' Alexandra Fuller 'Scott does more than simply record her African adventures. She tackles the difficult issue of race, revealing a shift in white attitudes across the generations [and] remind[s] us that southern Africa has many different histories' Independent
About the Author
Born in 1981, Robyn Scott spent her childhood in Botswana before beginning her formal education at the age of fourteen in Zimbabwe. Moving to New Zealand for her undergraduate degree, she studied bioinformatics at the University of Auckland. In 2004, she was awarded a Gates Scholarship to Cambridge University, where she took an MPhil in bioscience enterprise and studied the pricing of medicines in developing countries. Robyn lives in london, but visits and works regularly in southern Africa.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Saki
Format:Hardcover
Robyn Scott describes the members of her eccentric family so vividly, and with such warmth, that by the end of the book I felt bereft at having to say goodbye to them. Her descriptions of the Botswana landscape and her childhood adventures within it are beautifully drawn and often very funny. A fascinating picture of both modern Botswana and some fearlessly unconventional parenting. Warm-hearted and generous, a breath of fresh air in these timid times.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By Philip Bevis
Format:Hardcover
Arundel Books is an Independent Bookstore in Seattle. Our staff believes that this is the BEST Non-Fiction Debut of 2008.
Robyn Scott's Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is an astonishing debut. Set in Botswana, it is her account of growing up with one of the most wonderfully mad families you are likely to meet, whether in real life or between the covers of a book.
She has a remarkable ear for language, and a descriptive prose style that brings the bush country of Botswana, with all its flora, fauna, and people, to magically madcap life. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle brings to mind such authors as James Herriot and Augusten Burroughs.
This is our pick as the best non-fiction debut for 2008. It is insightful, inspiring, and heartwarming. Her parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, and the countryside surrounding them, are truly brought to life. Given Miss Scott's parents decidedly non-traditional approach to child rearing, this book will offer sustenance to parents of home schoolers everywhere.
Whether you like to read about travel, foreign cultures and peoples, families, education, natural history, biographies, accounts of coming-of-age, Africa, science, Horatio Algeresque narratives, women's studies, health and medicine, flying... or just like a darned good book, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is for you.
If this truly remarkable book is any indication, Miss Scott has an astonishing career ahead of her, and we are looking forward to her future efforts. Make no mistake, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle stands as an equal with the very best non-fiction published by any author in 2008.
Robyn Scott's Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is an astonishing debut. Set in Botswana, it is her account of growing up with one of the most wonderfully mad families you are likely to meet, whether in real life or between the covers of a book.
She has a remarkable ear for language, and a descriptive prose style that brings the bush country of Botswana, with all its flora, fauna, and people, to magically madcap life. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle brings to mind such authors as James Herriot and Augusten Burroughs.
This is our pick as the best non-fiction debut for 2008. It is insightful, inspiring, and heartwarming. Her parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, and the countryside surrounding them, are truly brought to life. Given Miss Scott's parents decidedly non-traditional approach to child rearing, this book will offer sustenance to parents of home schoolers everywhere.
Whether you like to read about travel, foreign cultures and peoples, families, education, natural history, biographies, accounts of coming-of-age, Africa, science, Horatio Algeresque narratives, women's studies, health and medicine, flying... or just like a darned good book, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is for you.
If this truly remarkable book is any indication, Miss Scott has an astonishing career ahead of her, and we are looking forward to her future efforts. Make no mistake, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle stands as an equal with the very best non-fiction published by any author in 2008.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By John Fraser
Format:Hardcover
I read a review of this in Conde Nast Traveller by Giles Foden describing it as "My Family and Other Animals - in Africa" and, having been a fan of Durrell since I was a teenager, I felt compelled to see if he was right.
So, granted, there's not so much about about animals in a pin-them-to-a-board-and-count-their-abdomens kind of way, but the way Robyn Scott brings to life the wildlife and landscapes of Botswana, where she grew up as a child, is very much in the spirit of Durrell's books. Hers is also an eccentric family - a flying doctor father, a homeschooling mother, an adrenaline-addicted brother and animal-obsessed sister, and, making regular cameo appearances throughout, her four wonderful grandparents, (in particular her grandfather Ivor who, with his crazy schemes, questionable flying skills and longstanding feuds, makes for many laugh-out-loud moments.) In the midst of it all is Robyn, the narrator, an oasis of calm who desperately wants to be a normal child from a normal family.
The book's real triumph is Robyn's ability to show us the warmer, more human side of Africa that we so seldom get the chance to read about. It's a really life-affirming and big-hearted book, like a love-letter to Botswana, it colourful inhabitants and beautiful landscapes.
So, granted, there's not so much about about animals in a pin-them-to-a-board-and-count-their-abdomens kind of way, but the way Robyn Scott brings to life the wildlife and landscapes of Botswana, where she grew up as a child, is very much in the spirit of Durrell's books. Hers is also an eccentric family - a flying doctor father, a homeschooling mother, an adrenaline-addicted brother and animal-obsessed sister, and, making regular cameo appearances throughout, her four wonderful grandparents, (in particular her grandfather Ivor who, with his crazy schemes, questionable flying skills and longstanding feuds, makes for many laugh-out-loud moments.) In the midst of it all is Robyn, the narrator, an oasis of calm who desperately wants to be a normal child from a normal family.
The book's real triumph is Robyn's ability to show us the warmer, more human side of Africa that we so seldom get the chance to read about. It's a really life-affirming and big-hearted book, like a love-letter to Botswana, it colourful inhabitants and beautiful landscapes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic book
Fantastic read evoking my own fond memories of my childhood in Central Africa. I bought it for my sister too.
Published 1 day ago by Mrs Lynne Coleman
4.0 out of 5 stars
A really Good Book
I really enjoyed "Twenty Chickens for a Saddle" it was one of those books you just wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Mad Geographer
5.0 out of 5 stars
'Twenty Chickens for a Saddle' or a 'Guide to intelligent and...
It is a must for anyone who has grown up in Southern Africa but it is also a wonderful read about an idyllic childhood with parents who gave their children the love and respect... Read more
Published 1 month ago by MS J R STOCK
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating childhood
First, a warning. There was not a kindle version at the time I ordered this book and I was dismayed at the tiny print of the paperback. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Robbie
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lovely read and also a great choice for a book group
I loved this book. I don't often read memoirs but this book was recommended and I'm glad I followed up the suggestion. Read more
Published 3 months ago by CHuBBie Founder
4.0 out of 5 stars
Too much of a good thing
Think of a modern version of the classic "The Flame Trees of Thika" and you have this book in a nutshell. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. R. T. Bowes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Warm and Engaging Memoir of a Childhood in Botswana
I have just completed Twenty Chickens for a Saddle. Having grown up in Africa but having spent more than half my life now in the UK I was interested in reading about a country... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Clouds Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinarily memorable book!
I borrowed this book from my local Library, just on chance. The paperback version that I had was in rather tiny print, and hence difficult to read except in bright light. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Grandpère Christophe
4.0 out of 5 stars
an insiders memoirs of living in Botswana
very enjoyable tale of growing up in Botswana amongst environmentally aware parents with strong views on education and life. Read more
Published 14 months ago by annemp
5.0 out of 5 stars
All good things come to an end but the journey is great fun
This is a well written and recent memoir about growing up in Botswana. The author was born in New Zealand in 1981 and moved with her parents brother and sister to Botswana where... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Noel
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