In this acutely observed, warm and enchanting memoir set in the beautiful African landscape of Botswana, the magic and adventure of growing up in this post-colonial country, with all of its beauty and underlying contradictions, are rendered as permanent as a watercolour painting and as rich in detail. With deeply eccentric parents and a childhood growing up deep in the African Bush in Botswana, Robyn Scott's upbringing, along with her little brother and sister, is far from conventional. In her house, sporadic vegetarianism ...
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In this acutely observed, warm and enchanting memoir set in the beautiful African landscape of Botswana, the magic and adventure of growing up in this post-colonial country, with all of its beauty and underlying contradictions, are rendered as permanent as a watercolour painting and as rich in detail. With deeply eccentric parents and a childhood growing up deep in the African Bush in Botswana, Robyn Scott's upbringing, along with her little brother and sister, is far from conventional. In her house, sporadic vegetarianism and only treating fevers with ajurvedic remedies are the secrets to a happy existence. So it comes as no real surprise, when, aged seven, Robyn's family adopt a disused cowshed as their home in the remote town of Selebi. As the family adjust to the unpredictable and enchanting environment of their new home, the souls of the people, the landscape and the animals that inhabit this beautiful African country come alive through the eyes of a child.Robyn's days are spent being schooled from her sister's bedroom with their native young gardener Matthews, training wild ponies with her father -- often ending up tangled in groves of deadly thorn bushes -- or dealing with midnight encounters with semi-poisonous snakes. Africa seems a country of long hot and sticky queues and seemingly her family the only other white people there. Robyn's only attempt to blend in with her fellow bush dwellers -- selling eggs to fund a new saddle for her beloved wild pony -- does little to redeem her family's reputation as the town's eccentrics. Grandpa Ivor, the owner of a coffin making factory, and a recovered alcoholic who flew planes in WWII -- is the only other figure who approves of his grandchildren's home schooling. Living with granny Betty, in a dingy hut at the end of a dirt track, he is one of the towns most treasured and respected elders with a temper that exasperates but a spirit that delights.Filled throughout with wonderful illustrations of human nature that transcend the country that inspired them, this beautiful and gracefully written childhood memoir is as much a homage to this beautiful and mysterious country and the people that inhabit it as to a childhood well-lived. 'Twenty Chickens for a Saddle' will long be remembered as a classic of its time.
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