I actually finished the third of Alexandra Fuller’s memoirs, Leaving Before the Rains Come, right after the other two. But while I loved the other two and couldn’t wait to write them up, I felt a lot more “meh” about this one, so I’m just now getting around to it… “You always think there will be more time and then suddenly there isn’t. You know how it is. You have to leave before the rains come, or it’s too late.” This third memoir focusing primarily on Alexandra’s marriage, and […]

Apparently Alexandra Fuller’s first memoir, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, caused a bit of strife between her and her mother (who refers to herself as Nicola Fuller of Central Africa, and to Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight as “that Awful Book”, which cracked me up on multiple occasions). Not surprising, since Nicola does not come off as the greatest mother in that book. A lot of fun, perhaps, but not the nurturing type. In Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, Alexandra delves a bit more […]

“How you see a country depends on whether you are driving through it, or live in it. How you see a country depends on whether or not you can leave it, if you have to.” Alexandra Fuller grew up in Africa, the daughter of a manic depressive alcoholic mother, and a father who scratched out a living on various farms while also serving in the army, fighting the rebellion in order to ensure white rule. She and her older sister Vanessa learned how to kill […]