Lead Review. Plus talking location with the author

• Book: Leopard at the Door
• Location: Kenya
• Author: Jennifer McVeigh

Review Author: tripfiction

Jennifer McVeigh came to prominence with her first book, The Fever Tree, set in 1880s South Africa, which was picked for the Richard and Judy bookclub, garnering a lot of high starred reviews.

Leopard at the Door is set in 1952 Kenya, when the white settlers and their way of life are facing growing resistance from the local population. But even amongst the indiginous Kenyans there are diverse factions, the most extreme being the Mau Mau insurgents who, it seems, will go to any length to disrupt and intimidate the white rulers. India gained independence a few years previously, Kenya now, in the 1950s – at the very time Queen Elisabeth II is ascending the throne – is heading that way and the writing is on the wall for those who choose to see it. It is a tough place, it has always been demanding of the settlers: “men who haven’t lived in Kenya cannot know what it asks of you..”

Rachel has been away for some six years, at boarding school in the UK following the death of her mother. She returns to her beloved homeland, where she is searching for the connection to family life that was so cruelly cut short. Her dog is still there, the servants are still in post, but her father has omitted to share with her that he has a new woman by his side, who has brought her son Harold with her into the relationship. The set-up feels so familiar to her in many ways yet profoundly unsettling in others.

From her memory she dredges an incident from her childhood that comes to haunt her throughout the story. The author does not stint on descriptions of the utter cruelty and madness that was rife during this period, both to humans and animals, and through her excellent prose draws a crackling and credible story of the last days of empire.

The author is masterful at creating characters within a very well described setting – both politically and environmentally. Kenya of the time feels very real. It is the pathos of the story unfolding that kept me absolutely hooked in, and without doubt this is one of my top reads 2017. Highly recommended. The recommendation does come with a warning, the levels of violence described are quite disturbing, although I am sure reflect things as they were.

We also chatted to Jennifer about her research of locale. You can find the original blogpost here.

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