Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

... Also known as Bobo.

Quite a bizarre book, really. I actually read and finished it a while ago, about the middle of July. This is the memoir of a girl growing up in Rhodesia, Malawi and Zambia, with a family who want to live in a white-run African country, and who are seeing that desire falling around them. The palpably racist views of Bobo's parents are presented without reflective comment or discussion; however, the book does not become unreadable or unbearable. Bobo's parents obviously suffered personal tragedies, losing two children and descending into, at least in her mother's case, apparent alcoholism and depression. The stories told are presented in a vaguely chronological order, but they are presented as titbits rather than as a coherent whole. I should point out that I have enjoyed the book, and have found many of the stories very interesting. It is just told in a rather unconventional way. Which makes a nice change, of course ... Just a bit bizarre at times! I would like to read more from her at some point.