Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Leopard at the Door
Jennifer McVeigh
Review by Priscilla Comen
Leopard at the Door
Jennifer McVeigh
Review by Priscilla Comen
Leopard at the Door by Jennifer McVeigh is a beautifully written tale of a young girl, Rachel, who returns to Kenya after being away for six years, sent to England to be educated. She has been looking forward to returning to Africa, but finds everything has changed. The children of the natives who work on the farm now wear tattered clothes where before her mother had sewn them new ones from fine fabrics. The natives no longer learn English because the new companion of Rachel’s father, Sara, thinks it is of no use to them. Sara is intolerant, egotistical, and mean.
Sara’s son, Harold, enjoys taking photos of African wild life in the Bush, and photos of natives being killed. When Rachel was young, she came upon a native being killed during a strike at the bacon factory. She never forgot that scene, and when she returns as a young woman, recognizes the man who did the killing. He is Steven Lockhart, a guest at her father’s table. He looks lustily at Rachel and gives her a cigarette. When Rachel learns of her mother’s death in England in an auto accident, she knows her life will never be the same. And the farm is definitely not the same. When neighbors come to visit (not many do), Rachel feels more alone than ever. Rachel finds a radio in her mother’s belongings, and Michael, one of the servants who is very intelligent, fixes it so they can hear the world and local news. It is illegal.
Lockhart comes often to the farm and they talk of politics. Lockhart doesn’t think the Kikiyu are capable of governing themselves. Kenyatta, their leader, has been arrested and the British have declared a state of emergency. At Christmas time, murders of white people and massacres by the Mau Mau occur. Michael tries to explain to Rachel the background reasons for this hatred of the white man. Danger and fear are constant. Rachel, her father, and Sara keep pistols by their sides always. Sara and Rachel do not get along well. When Sara learns that Rachel has been visiting Michael in the stables where he sleeps, she locks Rachel in her room. Will she be able to get out when she needs to? Michael escapes into the Bush after he stops Lockhart from attacking Rachel. Michael had fought in the war on the British side in Burma, but when he returned home, he and his friends had been given menial jobs and treated as dirt. The Mau Mau promised them land and freedom.
Author McVeigh gives meaning to history and gives the reader a dramatic ride throughout the book. Find it on the new fiction shelf of your community library.
Sara’s son, Harold, enjoys taking photos of African wild life in the Bush, and photos of natives being killed. When Rachel was young, she came upon a native being killed during a strike at the bacon factory. She never forgot that scene, and when she returns as a young woman, recognizes the man who did the killing. He is Steven Lockhart, a guest at her father’s table. He looks lustily at Rachel and gives her a cigarette. When Rachel learns of her mother’s death in England in an auto accident, she knows her life will never be the same. And the farm is definitely not the same. When neighbors come to visit (not many do), Rachel feels more alone than ever. Rachel finds a radio in her mother’s belongings, and Michael, one of the servants who is very intelligent, fixes it so they can hear the world and local news. It is illegal.
Lockhart comes often to the farm and they talk of politics. Lockhart doesn’t think the Kikiyu are capable of governing themselves. Kenyatta, their leader, has been arrested and the British have declared a state of emergency. At Christmas time, murders of white people and massacres by the Mau Mau occur. Michael tries to explain to Rachel the background reasons for this hatred of the white man. Danger and fear are constant. Rachel, her father, and Sara keep pistols by their sides always. Sara and Rachel do not get along well. When Sara learns that Rachel has been visiting Michael in the stables where he sleeps, she locks Rachel in her room. Will she be able to get out when she needs to? Michael escapes into the Bush after he stops Lockhart from attacking Rachel. Michael had fought in the war on the British side in Burma, but when he returned home, he and his friends had been given menial jobs and treated as dirt. The Mau Mau promised them land and freedom.
Author McVeigh gives meaning to history and gives the reader a dramatic ride throughout the book. Find it on the new fiction shelf of your community library.