Twenty Chickens For A Saddle: The Story Of An African Childhood

Description

When Robyn Scott was six years old her parents abruptly exchanged the tranquil pastures of New Zealand for a converted cowshed in the wilds of Botswana. Once there, Robyn and her siblings, mostly left to amuse themselves, grew up collecting snakes, canoeing with crocodiles and breaking in horses in the veld. In the shadow of one of Africa's worst AIDS crises, this moving, enchanting memoir is an extraordinary portrait of an unforgettable childhood.

Promotion info

A classic childhood memoir for fans of Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals, Peter Godwin's Mukiwa, Rian Malan's My Traitor's Heart and Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight Rights have been sold in US, Canada and HollandA BBC Radio Four Book of the Week

Reviews

'The nearest thing you will get to Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals in Africa and it is just as enchanting' Giles Foden, Conde Nast Traveller 'Beautifully written and lovingly told, Scott's book has the makings to be Out of Africa meets Running with Scissors' New York Times Book Review 'A fabulous read, rollicking, good-humoured and intensely sane' Alexandra Fuller 'Scott does more than simply record her African adventures. She tackles the difficult issue of race, revealing a shift in white attitudes across the generations [and] remind[s] us that southern Africa has many different histories' Independent

Author description

Born in 1981, Robyn Scott spent her childhood in Botswana before beginning her formal education at the age of fourteen in Zimbabwe. Moving to New Zealand for her undergraduate degree, she studied bioinformatics at the University of Auckland. In 2004, she was awarded a Gates Scholarship to Cambridge University, where she took an MPhil in bioscience enterprise and studied the pricing of medicines in developing countries. Robyn lives in london, but visits and works regularly in southern Africa.