In her enthralling memoir, Tea, Scones, and Malaria, Katlynn Brooke invites readers to step into the rugged bushveld of 1950s and ‘60s Rhodesia, where she navigated the joys and challenges of an unconventional upbringing.
Growing up in a region abundant with wildlife and devoid of basic infrastructure, Brooke’s childhood was anything but ordinary, even by African standards. As the daughter of a government bridge builder, she and her family criss-crossed the wilderness, establishing makeshift camps deep within the territory of elephants and cheetahs.
“It was a different world,” she recalled. “We ran barefoot in the bush and swam in crocodile-infested rivers, sharing our camps with snakes, scorpions, and jerrymunglums.
“There was no electricity, no hospitals, and no schools in the bush. How I survived it all, I will never know.”…
