An African Romance

Summary

In the early 1950s, Colonel Michael Charteris takes command of a battalion of the King's African Rifles during the beginning of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. As the British authorities struggle to create an effective and consistent response to the violent unrest, Michael oversees the difficult task of training his British and native troops to become a force that can overcome the jungle tactics of the Mau Mau. Through the Howarths, a British farming family near Mount Kenya, Charteris meets Jane, the governess of the Howarth's daughter, Naomi, and they slowly begin a romance. When Jane and Naomi are abducted by the Mau Mau, Michael's professional and personal worlds collide. 'An African Romance' takes the reader into these turbulent times, when native families were torn apart by conflicting loyalties, when the British Army faced serious questions as to its conduct, and when Independence was in Kenya's futute.