Pages: 384
Original date of publication:
My copy: 2013 (Harlequin MIRA)
Why I decided to read: Copy offered for review
How I acquired my copy: Amazon Vine, April 2013
Set in 1923, the novel focuses on Delilah Drummond, a
daringly modern woman who is forced to take a “break” from society when a
scandal threatens her reputation. She goes to Kenya and her stepfather’s
estate, Fairlight, and quickly becomes acclimatized to the way of life
there—meeting, as she does so, Ryder White, a hunter/tracker.
I’ve had a taste of British colonial life in Kenya—Frances
Osborne’s The Bolter is about a famous colonist of the period, Idina Sackville,
and the five husbands she “bolted” from in order to set up a new life in Kenya
(where she continued her adventures, many of them sexual). So there are pretty
obvious comparisons to be made between Idina Sackville and Delilah Drummond, as
there are between Dennis Finch-Hatton (of Out of Africa fame) and Ryder White.
Still, there’s enough about each of these fictional characters to make them
interesting, and I was interested to see how Delilah would develop throughout
the novel. At first she seems to be a pretty stereotypical fish-out-of-water
character, but I was pleased to see how she falls in love not only with Ryder
White but Africa, too, and grow as a person in the process—especially since she
has her past with which to grapple. So what we are shown is more than just the
surface; we are shown the reason for why Delilah behaves (at least in her
pre-Africa life) the way she does. So the focus is on reflection—reflection on
one’s life, even though it might seem to be small in the grand scheme of
things.
What I thought was especially good were Deanna Raybourn’s
descriptions of Africa—the love story in the book isn’t really the one between
Delilah and Ryder as much as it is about Delilah’s growing love for Africa. So
Africa itself becomes a character, with its own flaws and advantages. I’m not
usually a fan of Deanna Raybourn’s stand-alone novels that don’t feature Lady
Julia Grey, but I thought A Spear of Summer Grass was especially well done. You
even get a nod to Walt Whitman; what’s not to love?
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