| Back from Africa |  | Author: Corinne Hofmann
Publisher: Arcadia Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.46
as of 3/19/2010 16:29 EDT details
You Save: $10.49 (42%)
In Stock
New (20) Used (12) from $9.99
Seller: a1books
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 188,141
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 172
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 1905147325
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.87432092
EAN: 9781905147328
ASIN: 1905147325
Publication Date: April 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Tell A Friend
Add to Wishlist
Add to Wedding Registry
Add to Baby Registry
| |
| Features:
| | ISBN13: 9781905147328 | | | Condition: NEW | | | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
After enthralling readers around the world with her incredible story of falling in love with and marrying the Masai warrior Lketinga—and living with his family and their daughter in Kenya—Corinne Hoffmann recounts her return to Switzerland and the difficulties she faced. This frank and revealing memoir details how she built a new life for herself and her daughter while overcoming all obstacles with the same courage and optimism she employed in her life in the Kenyan outback. Once again, Hoffmann proves herself to be an acute observer and an effective storyteller, and her astonishing and compelling tale will captivate fans new and old.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 Back from Africa review July 31, 2009
Kundry (midwest, U.S.A.)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is evidently the last of Corinne Hofmann's accounts about her experiences in Kenya with the Samburu ( less domesticated cousins of the Masaii). I read White Masaii, the first book, and was very interested in Hofmann's emotions and amazing ways of fitting in with the Samburu in such a primitive environment. And then, I wanted to know how it was to bring her half Samburu daughter back to Switzerland. And she goes back years later for a reunion with her husband and family in Kenya. Interjected into the narrative of Hofmann's own experiences are tidbits of how the Samburu live- male, female, children and animals. We learn how difficult it is to travel even short distances, how to get imported goods, what the hospital is like, many amazing accounts of life in rural Kenya. Hofmann's writing is pretty simple (could be the translation) but, still, where else would you find out about these things? In fact, I couldn't wait to read the other 2 books after reading White Masaii,which, evidently, has been made into a film.
BACK IN THE WESTERN WORLD April 10, 2009
J Bug (British Columbia, Canada)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The first book in this series (The White Masai) is a 5 star, absolutely fascinating read. I would also recommend the follow-up (Reunion In Barsaloi). BACK FROM AFRICA however just feels like filler. There's not really enough interesting material here to warrant a third book and except for the first few chapters and the details of her climbing Mt Kilimanjaro I found it disappointing.
This third instalment deals with the time immediately after she leaves her Masai husband Lketinga and after fleeing Kenya with her young daughter Napirai, returns to Switzerland to start a new life.
Initially Corinne struggles with lingering health issues (malaria, hepatitis) and has trouble integrating back into modern society. (Do we really need all this stuff?) However as her health and self confidence returns she finds a job in sales, moves into her own apartment, makes friends in a single woman's group and faces government bureaucracy while getting her daughters birth certificate and filling for divorce. All the while maintaining contact with her brother in-law, James in Africa and mourning her failed marriage. With encouragement from her friends Corinne eventually writes the story of her love affair with Lketinga and gets "The White Masai" published. A large part of the book is dedicated to her success and travels while promoting her book. In the last few chapters Corinne finds a new love partner and returns to Africa to daringly climb Mt Kilimanjaro.
It should also be noted that Back From Africa has been translated from German so the writing does not always flow as smoothly as I'm sure it did in it's original language.
I wouldn't recommend this unless you've already read The White Masai.
 Self-centred and simple April 26, 2009
Charles Pooter (Europe)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought the first book on a business trip to Germany, the allure of a cross-cultural romance drawing me in. The story completely baffled me - how could a woman fall so madly in love with a person she could not communicate with, and knew nothing about? It must have been lust, I thought, but when I read of their disastrous sex life, I was totally confused. What was binding these people so forcefully together? Unfortunately, Ms Hoffman never elaborates, and I ended up screaming at her as she threw herself into this alien and ultimately harmful situation (which I found out the friends I'd lent this book to did as well.) The ending to the first book appalled me - she abducts her daughter when she realises what a mess she has gotten herself into, merrily not giving a damn about how the child's father may feel about this.
I got the second book to see how the story continues, if Ms Hoffman realises just how foolish, impulsive and selfish she is, but noooo. She comes running back home to Mummy, in a country (thanks to antiquated citizenship laws) she can't even live in, all her savings having been spent on her African folly. We're supposed to delight over her "triumph" of getting her visa status, own apartment and job over thousands of other candidates, with her purely one-sided divorce going through. She's a hot commodity still, getting new boyfriends even if her daughter complains about having to "share Mama". When Mama decides to move to the Italian part of Switzerland, no one gets a vote! Boyfriend and daughter have to adjust, as another language will be good for Napirai.
The whole part about going back to Africa to climb the mountain is just another example of Ms Hoffman's insistence of doing something her way. Why does she have to go to Africa when there are plenty of Alps in Switzerland, where she could share this experience with her daughter and partner? (And why does she assume the "terrible" people on the tour will know or care who she is?)
I seriously worry about the damage this woman has done to her daughter, and hope she uses some of the money she earned on the trilogy of books for intensive therapy. She was never in love with Lketinga as a person - she was in love with the whole idea of the adventure, a delusion she still apparently suffers from.
 Back From Africa June 28, 2009
Joan C. Adams
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A quick, easy read and her story is so weird I just had to find out what happened next. Ms. Hoffman is without a doubt a born entrepreneur and seems able to make a profit at whatever she attempts. She does seem to lack much empathy for others and is a real represntative of the Me First generaton. That, of course. does make the book any less intriguing - it's like going to the freak show at a circus.
A True Account June 8, 2009
C. Andrus (Pt. Huron, MI United States)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Corinne Hoffmann does an excellent job in Back From Africa relating what it was like getting back into the main stream of civilization upon returning to live in Switzerland from her years of living in Kenya, East Africa. She tells about victories celebrated and the roadblocks that she ran into during the years that she spent making a new life for herself and her daughter. Life was quite different in Kenya compared to living in Switzerland. No matter what Corinne faced upon her return, she never gave up.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
| In Stock
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. |
| |
