The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann, Peter Millar
Whilst on holiday in Kenya, Corinne Hoffman fell in love with a Masai warrior. Eventually she moved into a tiny shack with him and his mother and spent four years in Kenya. However, slowly but surely, the dream began to crumble. She eventually fled back home with her baby daughter. From wild animals through starvation to ritual mutilation, this is a book steeped in humanity and one that tells a fascinating tale. At once a hopelessly romantic love story and a gripping adventure yarn, The White Masai is a compulsive read. Editorial Reviews One glance at a Masai warrior wearing almost no clothes-just a short loincloth-but lots of jewelry, and Hofmann, a Swiss business woman on vacation in Kenya, abandons all in obsessive pursuit of Lketinga who has never been to school, can't read or write and barely speaks English. The passion is palpable and sometimes purple (I feel myself at one with this man and now, this night, I know that despite all the barriers between us, I have already become a captive of his world). Seekers of romance and adventure will be amply rewarded, but the power of Hofmann's memoir rests in her hard-won capacity to take the reader inside the domestic world of the African bush as she learns to be Lketinga's wife (living in her own dung hut), grappling with unfamiliar sexual and gender manners and struggling to balance her commitment to bush life with the knowledge and resources she has as a European woman (acquiring a car, starting a business). The idyll, spoiled by Lketinga's bouts of jealous fits, ends after four years when Hofmann, with their daughter, flees to Switzerland. Hofmann's commitment, however, lingers and infuses her account with an affecting richness that defies the reader to ridicule her decision to give up [her] whole life back in Switzerland for Lketinga. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly While vacationing in Kenya, Hofmann spotted the man of her dreams: a tall and beautiful Masai warrior with red-dyed hair, wearing only a loincloth and jewelry. Unable to get him out of her mind, she found him again: his name was Lketinga, and they connected despite language and cultural barriers. Hofmann rapidly sold her business in Germany and moved to Kenya to be with him, eventually moving into his family's hut. She remained there for four years, marrying Lketinga, giving birth to a daughter, and suffering both life-threatening illness and many cultural misunderstandings. This is her emotionally spare retelling of the course of their relationship. Hofmann comes across as both na ve and uncompromising, often surprised at her husband's expectations; for example, he was threatened by and jealous of her interactions with others. Originally written in German, Hoffman's memoir has sold four million copies internationally and spurred two sequels. This absorbing and interesting read, with its clear descriptions of Masai daily life, is recommended for larger public libraries.-Alison Hopkins, Northwest Territories P.L. Svcs., Canada Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Two wildly different cultures collide in this internationally bestselling story of a successful Swiss businesswoman who falls for a Masai warrior. Hofmann begins with details of a vacation trip to Kenya with her then-boyfriend. Three days after they arrived, she spotted Lketinga: A tall, dark brown beautiful man . . . more beautiful than anyone I've ever seen. Back in Switzerland, Hofmann dispensed with her boyfriend, sold her clothing store and traveled back to Africa to take up a passionate relationship with Lketinga. Her prose is snappy and pointed; sentences are kept brief throughout, chapters often ending after just two or three pages. Although this clipped style can occasionally be distracting, Hofmann's description of life in the bush with Lketinga is fascinating. The conditions in which she lived were completely alien to her, sometimes potentially life-threatening; the narrative unravels at breakneck speed in a series of visceral, pulse-racing adventures. The lovers married and struggled constantly in their attempts to understand each other. They ultimately had a child, but that seemed to drive an even greater cultural wedge between them. Hofmann shapes this linear story like a fiction narrative, complete with a plot containing generous lashings of romance and drama. (A German-language film adaptation premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year.) In the end, it comes off as a cross between a wildly imagined novel and a confessional diary. Unusual and highly addictive entertainment, although more cynical readers may wonder whether the author exaggerated certain events for dramatic effect. - Kirkus Reviews This extraordinary story. . . is a page-turner. - Daily Mail (London) It's a truly riveting read, better than any reality TV show -Maris Ross - Publishing News An extraordinary and unputdownable tale. - Bookseller - From the Publisher It's a truly riveting read, better than any reality TV show -Maris Ross - Publishing News An extraordinary and unputdownable tale. - Bookseller This extraordinary story. . . is a page-turner. - Daily Mail (London)
Publication Details
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Binding: Paperback
Published by: Hodder: , 2007
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ISBN: 9781905147083 | 1905147082
310 pages.
Book Condition: Good
Cover worn
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