The Flame Trees of Thika

By Elspeth Huxley,

Book cover of The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood

Book description

When Elspeth Huxley's pioneer father buys a remote plot of land in Kenya, the family sets off to discover their new home: five hundred acres of Kenyan scrubland, infested with ticks and white ants, and quavering with heat. What they lack in know-how they make up for in determination: building…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Flame Trees of Thika as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Huxley’s parents go to Kenya to start a coffee plantation. And like Blixen and her husband, they know nothing about Africa or growing coffee and must depend on Africans to teach them. Huxley writes a delightful account of her life and the struggles they endure. Her portrayal of the people who work on the family’s plantation is brilliant as is the description of the environment and animals. Huxley also writes from the unsentimental eyes of a child.

If you love The Flame Trees of Thika...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest By Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Want books like The Flame Trees of Thika?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Flame Trees of Thika.

Browse books like The Flame Trees of Thika

Book cover of West with the Night: A Memoir
Book cover of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
Book cover of Out of Africa

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,580

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Flame Trees of Thika, you might also like...

American Flygirl By Susan Tate Ankeny,

Book cover of American Flygirl

The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.

This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States…

Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink By Ethan Chorin,

Book cover of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Kenya, Africa, and country life?

Kenya 61 books
Africa 265 books
Country Life 53 books