When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa

Review-A-Day

"Godwin seems to capture every nuance of life in this beleaguered land: the bundles of near-worthless banknotes carted around in rucksacks and shopping bags, the 'threadbare white shirt' and 'sad, patient face' of an immigration official at Harare's increasingly derelict airport, the feces-splattered tombstone that marks the final resting place of his sister....In one of his most moving passages, Godwin describes the profound discomfort felt by those who can leave from such places at will....In Godwin's case, the distress is intensified because he is running away from his own country, and his own family..." Joshua Hammer, The New York Review of Books (read the entire New York Review of Books review)

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Gwen Ellis, January 11, 2012 (view all comments by Gwen Ellis)
Just what happened in Zimbabwe that turned it from the breadbasket of Africa to a nation of disenfranchised people? And how did such a stable economy tumble to become the nation with the highest inflation rate in the world? How did the best-educated country become a seething cauldron of brutality? It began to happen with the assumption of Robert Mugabe to the presidency and it continues until today.
Peter Godwin was born and raised in Zimbabwe. It was home and he loved it��"loves it still. As the country deteriorated into ruin with bands of uncontrolled “wovets” (war veterans) running wild and destroying home and homestead, Peter pled with his parents to leave the country and flee to the safety of the UK or America or another African country: but they would have none of it. Zimbabwe was their home and they were staying put. So through burglaries, car robberies, shortages of everything from food to fuel, they carried on. Peter’s sister, Georgiana, a broadcaster of anti-establishment content did flee, to England. From there she continues her broadcasts of truth and freedom into her war-torn homeland.
In addition to the ongoing and tragic story of Zimbabwe, Peter uncovers the amazing story of his father’s secret identity and the cost to his father of maintaining that secret throughout his life. As the secret is peeled back for the reader, we have a chance to look into the death camps of Europe during World War II. We feel the fear and the terror of those who blindly walked into the jaws of death in those camps.
From beginning to a heartrending ending of the book, we see the cost the people of Zimbabwe pay on a daily basis for a situation not of their making and seemingly out of their control. The book is well worth the read.

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stcj, May 7, 2008 (view all comments by stcj)
This was a fascinating and emotional read, particularly in light of the ongoing drama around the presidential election in Zimbabwe. Godwin is a masterful writer.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780316018715

Author:

Godwin, Peter

Publisher:

Back Bay Books

Subject:

Editors, Journalists, Publishers

Subject:

Africa - General

Subject:

Personal Memoirs

Subject:

Journalists

Subject:

Fathers and sons

Subject:

Godwin, Peter

Subject:

Biography - General

Copyright:

2006

Publication Date:

20080431

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Y

Pages:

341

Dimensions:

8.25x5.47x.98 in. .71 lbs.