Skip to main content

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson: book review




A Guide to the Birds of East Africa (2008) is a fictional novel set in Nairobi, Kenya, in contemporary times.

The back-cover promotion says this novel is like Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency book series set in Botswana. But Drayson’s book is not a detective book, nor a mystery, nor does it have predominantly African female characters. It does, however, have lots of East African birds.

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa has three main characters in their 60s – two males and a female – who have full lives with frequent travel, previous spouses, jobs, friends, interests, and hobbies; one of which is bird watching.

Mr Malik has attended the weekly Tuesday bird walk of the East African Ornithological Society in Nairobi for the past three years, and is passionately in love with the leader of the group, Rose Mbikwa. But one day his school boy rival, Harry Khan, turns up on the bird walk. Now their rivalry centres on gaining Rose’s attention.

Both men want to invite Rose to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball, the annual dance. To determine who should invite Rose, Mr Malik and Harry Khan begin a seven-day challenge. Their friends at the Asadi Club act as referees.

The challenge is to spot and identify the highest number of birds within Kenya. What could be easier in Kenya, a land with an exceptionally high number of bird species?

But the challenge has rules – ten strict rules. One of the rules is that there must be no contact with Rose for the whole week – whatsoever – not ‘personal, telephonic or epistolary, nor through any third person nor by any other means.’ Rose is a little confused by their sudden lack of attention.

It’s amazing what two men will do to win the challenge; and who comes to their assistance – friends, family, workers, and strangers. There are other challenges too, such as theft, shootings, and misunderstandings.

This is an easy-to-read, delightful, comical, interesting story that rolls along, or rather rolls around, with a few digressions and stops and starts, until eventually one winner is revealed. More or less. Not only is the winner revealed, but their real personalities also come to surface.







MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more