A Guide to the Birds of East Africa

By Nicholas Drayson

Book Overview

A beguiling novel that does for contemporary Kenya and its 1,000 species of birds what Alexander McCall Smith's Ladies Detective series does for Botswana

For the past three years, the widower Mr. Malik has been secretly in love with Rose Mbikwa, a woman who leads the weekly bird walks sponsored by the East African Ornithological Society. Reserved and honorable, Malik wouldn't be noticed by a bystander in a Nairobi street--except perhaps to comment on his carefully sculpted combover. But beneath that unprepossessing exterior lies a warm heart and a secret passion.

But just as Malik is getting up the nerve to invite Rose to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball (the premier social occasion of the Kenyan calendar), who should pop up but his nemesis from his school days. The jokester Harry Khan, good-looking in a flashy way and quick of foot, has also become enraptured with the object of Malik's affection.
So begins the competition cooked up by fellow members of the Asadi club: whoever can identify the most species of birds in one week's time gets the privilege of asking Ms. Mbikwa to the ball.
Set against the lush Kenyan landscape rich with wildlife and political intrigue, this irresistible novel has been sold in eight countries and is winning fans worldwide.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B004KABGEA
• ISBN13: 9780547247953
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Charming

This is a lovely, charming story in which nothing much happens -- certainly nothing very serious. I enjoyed reading its 200 pages and was sorry when it was over.

Book purchased

product received was as advertised, and in great condition. Would buy from this vendor again.

Makes me want to go watch some birds

How to describe this book? Is it about life in Kenya, about birdwatching, about an enchanting romance, a mystery? Yes, all of those. The characters are distinct and fully fleshed-out -- and wonderfully memorable. I was sorry to finish it.

Having been to Africa

I had just returned from volunteering in Tanzania, the country on the southern border of Kenya which is the setting of this book. By chance I chose A Guide to the Birds of East Africa from the "new fiction" shelf at my local library . What a delight! So much of the background rings true to my experience. The insight into East African culture is rewarding and helped me put my recent experience in perspective. But the most fun of all is the story with its charmingly flawed characters and accounts of birding woven together to tell a tale of modern Africa.

This is a charmer

I picked this book up at the library by chance and now it will be a Christmas gift for many friends, it is simply wonderful. A charming story about "average" people who may not be so very average. I loved it.