Elspeth huxley a biography book

This is the first biography of Elspeth Huxley, the renowned writer, broadcaster, conservationist and chronicler of colonial Kenya.

Huxley’s lyrical and evocative memoir The Flame Trees of Thika (1959) became popular worldwide when it was dramatised for television in 1981.

She was a vivid chronicler of colonial Kenya, and became increasingly recognized as an observer and interpreter of African affairs over a period of profound change. Yet this was only one of the thirty books she wrote, and it took just a few months of her remarkably active life to compose.

A woman of compelling personality and exceptional energy, Elspeth Huxley was not only a celebrated writer, but also a farmer, broadcaster, journalist, conservationist, political thinker, magistrate, and government adviser.

She was a vivid chronicler of colonial Kenya, and became increasingly recognized as an observer and interpreter of African affairs over a period of profound change. During World War II she worked for the BBC and her diverse career included a stint as a Kenyan government adviser.

Christine Nicholls’ book is based on Elspeth Huxley’s letters and papers, and the author is familiar with many of the people and places described.

Thus it is not surprising to find that she is a judicious, intelligent biographer who brings to her enterprise grace, balance, and deftness' - San Francisco Chronicle

'Wonderfully well-informed' - Kathryn Hughes, New Statesman

'Excellent' - Christopher Ondaatje, Times Higher Education Supplement

Christine Nicholls, like Elspeth Huxley, spent much of her childhood in Kenya, where her parents were teachers.

Initially a staunch defender of the white settlers, she would later come to support moves toward African independence.

After a childhood spent in East Africa and wartime Britain, Elspeth married a grandson of Thomas Huxley and cousin of Aldous Huxley, whom she knew well.

Whatever their subject, her books reveal the adventurousness, warmth, perception, and occasional astringency that made up her own personality; they are also notable for their acute observation and great social range, encompassing the lives of Kenya’s poor white farmers, the frivolous Happy Valley set, and Africans alike.

For this, the first biography of Elspeth Huxley, C.

S. Nicholls has made extensive use of her papers and letters---including those to and from Elspeth’s formidable mother Nellie and her hapless father Jos. Elspeth Huxley: A Biography is not merely a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary woman, but an absorbing account of an entire era of colonial and British history.