Out & About July 2017

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This extraordinary memoir, written by
the daughter of white settlers in 1970s
Rhodesia, is full of humour,
compassion, true grit and tragedy.
The story Alexandra Fuller tells of her
childhood is so exciting and exotic that you
often believe this is a fictional account rather
than a memoir.
Rhodesia then was war-torn and a dangerous
place to live. Ian Smith was the controversial
Prime Minister, in charge of the security forces
during the majority of the Bush War.
Against this backdrop, the Fuller family are
eking out a living on their cattle farm.
Alexandra’s parents are both passionate
supporters of a white-ruled Rhodesia, in love
with Africa itself, and they are eccentric, almost
to the point of madness. They have passed
their love of Africa down to their two daughters
who delight in their surroundings: “As we bump
onto the bridge that spans the Zambezi River,
Dad and I hang out of our windows, scanning
the water for hippo”.
The title of the book is taken from a quote by
A.P. Herbert, “Don’t let’s go the dogs tonight,
for mother will be there”.
Alexandra’s mother rampages through this
book, taking unimaginable risks with her
children, drinking heavily, a fantastic horse
rider toting a gun.
The author describes a typical evening with her
mother and an unsuspecting guest from the
UK: “Guests trapped by Mum have chapters
of their own. Chapter One – Delight, Chapter
Two – Mild Intoxication Coupled with Growing
Disbelief, Chapter Three – Extreme Intoxication
Coupled with Growing Panic, Chapter Four –
Lack of Consciousness”.
Her mother, although often appallingly
neglectful of her daughters, even so garners
your respect and sympathy. She has lost two
children in early infancy, a son Adrian and a
daughter Olivia, both of whom she mourns
deeply.
After Olivia’s untimely death Alexandra says
“…Mum and Dad’s joyful careless embrace
of life is sucked away”. However, this same
woman kills a spitting cobra that rears up in her
kitchen, and makes a truly courageous ride to
herd cattle back to the farm through the
war-riven countryside; she is a force to be
reckoned with, even in the midst of her grief.
Alexandra is therefore amazed when she visits
Pru Hilderbrand, a family friend, commenting,
“Pru… is like a mum out of a book… Her three
little boys do not have itchy bums and worms
and bites up their arms from fleas”.
Animals, especially dogs, loom large in this
book.
The Fullers have a collection of unruly dogs
accompanying them wherever they go. As
Fuller explains: “The life expectancy of a dog
on our farm is not great. The dogs are killed by
baboons, wild pigs, snakes, wire snares and
each other”.
Each dog, however, is loved by the family and
their antics and adventures are a delightful
addition to this memoir.
There are many wonderful descriptions of a
fabulous array of African wildlife, including
a spotted eagle owl which the Fullers have
rescued and named Jeeves.
The memoir is supported by photos from the
family album, in every chapter. These photos
are a visual treat, depicting Africa in all its
controversial and complicated glory.
There is a picture of Alexandra’s father in
combat gear with the police reservists on call
up duty, and several pictures of the attractive
Fuller family on various excursions.
Fuller has also included pictures of both
Adrian and Olivia, and these snaps of happy,
round-faced, innocent babies will pull at your
heart strings.
The Fullers run various farms throughout
Alexandra’s childhood, predominantly cattle,
but at one point a tobacco farm in Malawi,
and finally Serioes Farm in Zambia where the
author declares: “It seems a logical place for
this family to stop. And mend”.
Farming life is exacting and precarious and
the Fullers permanently teeter on the edge
of bankruptcy. They are not afraid of hard work
and descriptions of their toils and
privations are riveting.
“The pump spits mud into the water tank from
the sinking, stinking dam, and the water chugs
from the tap thick and red and muddy… A
small frog is spat into the hot bath one night.”
This book is a long love letter to Alexandra’s
African childhood.
One time, while camping in the Bush, she
comes near death from an infection, but as
soon as she recovers she vows never to leave
Africa.
As an adult she does eventually settle in
America, but on a return visit writes: “I want to
kiss the gun-swinging officials. I want to open
my arms to the sweet familiarity of home. The
incongruous, lawless, joyful, violent, up-side
down, illogical certainty of Africa comes at me
like a rolling rainstorm, until I am drenched with
relief”.
This sharp and witty account of her
unconventional childhood, her many
adventures and her beloved family, make this
memoir a joy to read from start to finish.
By the end, you’ll yearn for a warm, sunlit
veranda, dogs slumped by your feet, and the
noise of exotic birds calling while you sink a
few drinks with the Fuller family.
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Helen Sheehan and Lissa Gibbins are
writers and owners of Aide Memoire, Great
Bedwyn. Inspired by their passion for
words, they write memoirs, edit novels and
documents and proofread for a wide range
of clients.
Email: / helen@
Don’t Let’s Go to the
Dogs Tonight:
An African Childhood
By Alexandra Fuller
Dog day afternoon
Alexandra Fuller’s account of her unconventional
upbringing in war-torn Africa, Don’t Let’s Go to the
Dogs Tonight, is a roller-coaster of a ride say
HELEN SHEEHAN and LISSA GIBBINS
As the daughter of white settlers in war-torn 1970s Rhodesia, Alexandra Fuller remembers a time
when a schoolgirl was as likely to carry a shotgun as a satchel. This is her story – of a civil war, of a
quixotic battle with nature and loss, and of a family’s unbreakable bond with the continent that came
to define, scar and heal them.