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A Guide to the Birds of East Africa

This month, The Masons Book Club from Wichenford, Worcestershire review A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicolas Drayson

The Masons Book Club meets every month at The Masons Arms, Wichenford, Worcestershire, an English pub with a Thai restaurant. The Club has been running for six months. Our members are all female, aged between 30 and 60 and live locally. Some are lifelong book lovers, others have only just started to read for pleasure. We have read a variety of books over the last six months including fiction, non fiction, new books and old. At each meeting we vote on a variety of titles and sometimes have more than one choice per month, we always have differing opinions which of course makes for interesting discussion! We have been really surprised by some of the books which we have thoroughly enjoyed despite perhaps being out of our “comfort zone”. In December we held a book swap meeting where everyone brought one of their own favourite books to swap which was a great success and gave us an insight into what other members enjoy.

A Guide to The Birds of East Africa is a novel set in Kenya. It is the story of Mr Malik who is passionately in love with Rose Mbikwa, the leader of the Tuesday morning Bird Walk. Unfortunately he has a rival in his old school bully Harry Khan who is also pursuing Rose. Both men want to ask Rose to the Hunt Club Ball and a bird spotting competition ensues to determine who will have the honour. Poor Mr Malik is beset with obstacles and unexpected events whereas the wealthy Harry Khan wastes no time and expense in trying to win. As you may guess there is a happy ending but perhaps not the one you might think!

The story is told in a colonial style by a narrator and at first the storyline did not at first grab our attention. However, we soon found ourselves caught up in the excitement of the bird spotting competition and all the adventures that befall Mr Malik on the way. The characters are interesting and well formed and Mr Malik is an unusual character who earns our sympathy and liking. Despite his ridiculous hairstyle and eccentric ways, he is an honest, kindly man with hidden depths and we find ourselves willing him on. There is also plenty of information about Kenya and African birds, as the title promises, which we found interesting. We did feel though that the unpleasant aspects of modern life in Kenya such as crime and political corruption were only briefly touched upon and perhaps rather glossed over.

Our members thought that this was a pleasant, lighthearted book and an enjoyable read that we would recommend to other book clubs.