Product Description

A deeply affecting memoir of life in Rhodesia / Zimbabwe in the 1970s and 1980s, evoking the author's coming of age alongside the final, brutal years of civil war and the country's political transition during the early years of independence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187162 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'Lovingly recalled ... St John powerfully conveys the implosion of her moral world, her complex disillusionment and her hard decision to leave this snake-rich Eden {Zimbabwe]' Sunday Times 'Highly evocative ... a world of striking colours and childhood experiences ... a beautifully written book' Daily Express 'Engrossing ... wonderfully told in a haunting, lyrical prose, full of pathos and humour' Irish Independent 'St John's disarming frankness triumphs' Financial Times 'Astonishingly evocative and wonderfully well written. It has two other qualities -- humour and a lack of pretension... Rainbow's End is precise, evocative and funny' Daily Mail 'A most generous and wise book.' Lisa Fugard, author of Skinner's Drift'

Justin Cartwright, Daily Mail
'Astonishingly evocative and wonderfully well-written. It has two
other qualities -- humour and a lack of pretension. Precise, evocative and
funny. A fine book.'

New Statesman
'Atmospheric... an illuminating eye-witness account. This memoir
works on many levels. It is a love letter to a harsh yet beautiful land,
with invigorating prose soaked in African sunshine'

Customer Reviews

Memories...
Whilst browsing through a bookstore last week, I found myself drawn to the cover photograph on the dustjacket of Rainbow's End. The child on the front reminded me of someone. Upon discovering what the book was about, I rushed to the till, paid my money and before I knew it, found myself sitting at home reading.
It didn't take too long to realise that this book could have been written about ME. Lauren St John writes about her childhood on a farm in Zimbabwe in such a way that I found myself transported back in time. I was reminded of memories that had been all but forgotten. I caught myself laughing out loud at the references to zambezi mud, corn curls, lifebuoy soap and creme soda, nodding my head in agreement to thoughts about the wonderful African staff who worked for our parents and of lying awake at night awaiting the sounds of gunfire, thinking back to picnics on river beds surrounded by crocodiles and hippos and, ultimately, sitting in my bed reading the last chapter with tears streaming down my face.
It was a privilege to live in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe during this time and, although my farming father was threatened with his life and felt he had no choice but to remove his family from the situation, my memories are primarily positive. Ms St John and I grew up leading very similar lives and our thoughts and fears, whilst reading every page, seemed to merge into one. I will be forever indebted to Ms. St John for her ability to awaken all those memories that had been tucked away for some time.

Derivative
I have to agree with Historian. Being an ex-Zimbabwean myself, and also Lauren's age, I gobbled the subject matter up. But this isn't nearly as well written as Don't let's go to the dogs tonight (Alexandra Fuller). You can see that Lauren clearly used the latter as her model though - especially in the "evoke lots of tastes and smells of Africa" area! There are some really good bits, esp. the prologue which is memorising (and horrific), but the whole is not as good as the sum of its parts.

Peter Godwin is still the master of this genre, with Alexandra Fuller a close runner-up.

Re-Awakening the African Experience...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from the various anecdotes on bush life, local characterizations and the old "product" reminders. It does encapsulate the rose-coloured view many of us teenagers held of our country growing up in this period, despite the horrors of the bush war. Her descriptions of many areas of African life brought back vivid memories, and whilst many of my fellow ex-countrymen are often accused of too much nostalgia, how many of the "critics" can pick up such literature on their own childhood memories that will bring a smile to their face. If you are from the Southern African region you will enjoy this book for the images it will envoke. If you are not, you will enjoy it for the wistful look at African life as lived by a minority society, before the sweeping reforms transformed a nation.