NOWHERE IN AFRICA: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL BY STEPHANIE ZWEIG (BOOK REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION)

Today I shall review another autobiographical novel....and what a wonderful novel it is! Written by Stephanie Zweig, it tells a tale of a German Jewish family surviving in Kenya during the Second World War. It is a family saga of sorts, a touching and profound tale of growing up in Africa during World War Two. I would especially recommend it to German readers, as they can read it in the language it was written it. There is also an awarded movie version for those of you who aren't exactly bookworms. I haven't seen the movie myself, but the reviews are promising. 

 With the expectation of Slaughterhouse 5 that I read and reviewed fairly recently (also set in WW2), it's really been a while since I read an autobiographical novel. So, I was really up for it when I picked up Nowhere in Africa. It was one of the first books I've read this summer and now as the summer is slowly but surely coming to its end, it's time for me to review it.

 Nowhere in Africa is a novel about a Jewish family that escapes Nazi Germany and flies to Kenya to an uncertain future. It's an autobiographical novel, meaning that the author based it on her own experiences. It's beautifully written and feels absolutely authentic. It's touching but it's not sentimental. It's sensitive when it talks about the sensitive topics but it's real enough. The writing is realistic but it's not emotionless. In fact, there is a lot of emotion in this novel. It's not overwhelming, though. 

"Did you not hear Kimani bark, bwana?” 

“Yes. But I did not know why he was barking.”*

A Quote from Nowhere in Africa: An Autobiographical Novel

Post update: I did some more Internet research and found this lovely document *with Stefanie's own impressions on both the film and her writing:  

"I was five years, six months and seven days old when I first fell in love. It was to be for life. Owuor was his name. He swept a stunned, frightened little girl - who until then had thought all people were white-skinned and everybody talked German - off her feet, threw her into the sky and called her a "toto". That was the first word of Swahili I learned: it means child.".....

 For 40 years I was arts editor at a daily newspaper in Frankfurt, longing to be a freelance writer. I never dared, but comforted myself by writing children's books. In 1994 the most successful of them - A Mouth Full of Earth - was awarded a prize in the Netherlands for best children's book. That encouraged me to write my first novel, the story of a courageous father who taught his daughter not to hate. Nowhere in Africa was published in 1995. Till then I had no idea that I had remembered every scene of my childhood. Although I had been to Kenya twice and knew that I still spoke Swahili, I was astonished how the language flooded my memory while writing. Hoping that the book would at least find a publisher (which it did within 10 days), I am still amazed that it was a best-seller. Having written reviews all my working life, and knowing that a book and the film it inspires are not to be compared, I did not even try to be involved in the making of Nowhere in Africa. My contact - and friendship! - with director Caroline Link began after the film was done. When I first saw Nowhere in Africa and Africa's beauty swept the commonsense out of my head, I did not shed a tear. I resolved to forget everything that I had remembered. But that very moment the actor Sidede Onyulo, a man from the tribe of the Luo, threw a stunned little girl into the sky and called her a "toto". Then I knew what I had always presumed: my love story was a never-ending one."*

OTHER SUMMER READS: 

FABLES FOR ROBOTS BY STANISLAW LEM / THE LATHE OF HEAVEN BY URSULA K. LE GUIN

This book opens with a dedication : 'To my father'. The father of the narrator Regina (who is a little girl for most of the narration) is one of the most important characters in this autobiographical novel. 

THE FATHER FACING THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE

 The father is the first to leave Germany and immigrate  to Africa, a continent completed unknown to him. I call him father before I ever name him  (his name is Walter). There's a reason for that. The author herself said this is a book about a father who has taught her daughter how not to hate. Such profound words! The perfect way to describe this autobiographical novel. Walter is based on Stefanie's father, just as Regine is based on Stefanie. In the Preface, Stefanie states how she loved her father very much, and the love was mutual. So, the father is an important character in this novel, and not just plot wise. 

 Walter immigrates to Africa and sort of establishes himself there in Africa, but his life is anything but easy. Walter doesn't speak English, he doesn't have any money or connections. In reality, his circumstances are quite desperate. Walter was a successful lawyer in Germany, but in Africa he's a foreigner. He is a double foreigner, as he is a foreigner to other Europeans there who don't seem to like European Jews very much.  Walter survives with the help of the locals and by that I mean more Kenyans than other Europeans. Other Europeans seem to keep to themselves. Not once in the novel it is revealed that European Africans don't really like the Jews. 

During their time in Africa, the family establishes close relationship with some of the locals.  The father gives it all he has, but everything is absolutely uncertain. His wife Jettel arrives as well, but struggles with adapting to life in Africa. Life in Africa for them is indeed hard and uncertain. Walter complains because Jettel buys an evening dress prior to arriving.  Walter  wonders- Where is Jettel supposed to wear the dress? Educated and respected, lawyer Walter and his wife Jettel once lead a comfortable life in Germany. They are just refugees now, uncertain will they see their family or any of their parents even again. Imagine the isolation and fear they must have felt. Trying to manage a farm for some European for a few dollars. They who have been urban dwellers, upper middle class, and know nothing about farm management must learn not only how to work on a farm but how to survive with almost nothing. 

This novel is based on real events, and it is an autobiographical novel. As Stefanie herself tells, her family was saved with luck, and with the help of Jewish community in Kenya and Kenya's people, while the other Europeans in Africa did not look too kindly on them:

"In June 1938 my mother and I arrived in Rongai in Kenya. For the previous six months, my 34-year-old father had been working out there as a farm manager, trying to forget that in his former life he had been a respected barrister and notary public. Having studied only Latin and Greek, he neither knew English or anything about cattle or crops. It took me years to understand why my parents told friend and foe that they hated farming, but "we owe our lives to Kenya". We were Jews - in our home country in fear for our lives, in Kenya "bloody refugees", and after the outbreak of the second world war "enemy aliens". By 1938 the Nazis had robbed my father of his profession, his dignity, and all hope that he would be able to stay in Germany. Concentration camps were a Jewish reality. Whoever could and had the foresight and the money, emigrated to other countries; that we escaped to Kenya was mere coincidence. When my father was advised to do so by a friend, he did not even know that Kenya was a British colony in east Africa. The colonial authorities only demanded £50 per head for an entry permit. The low price decided for him. Even so, without the assistance of the Jewish community in Nairobi, he would not have gathered the sum in time to get his wife and daughter out of Germany."*

THE WIFE ARRIVES AND THEY STRUGGLE TOGETHER

So, the father is the first to arrive, and after him the wife. The two of them understandably struggle. It's not like the wife is just spoiled (as the synopsis of this novel usually indicates). For some reasons, book synopsis tend to portray Jettel in a bad light. I think this is unfair.

 I didn't get this feeling from the books. Jettel is certainly not painted in a negative light in the book, and why would she be? Perhaps Walter is more proactive, but that is to expected.  Yes, Jettel had been somewhat spoiled or protected up to that point. It's mentioned in the novel that Jettel was shielded from life by her parents, that she was popular and beautiful girl. However, even if Jettel had not been shielded from life, adapting to African farming as a stranger in a strange land wouldn't be easy. Literally  everyone would struggle to adapt to a new life under such circumstances. Not to say anything of the fact that the two of them are under constant stress knowing all of their family members might be killed at any moment. The World War Two is in full swing, and while they managed to escape to Kenya, nothing is certain, especially the fates of their families and friends back home in Germany. There's nothing in the novel that indicates that Jettel is so spoiled as to make it a personality trait. She undergoes natural shock, as anyone would in the given circumstances. I think both Walter and Jettel do admirably well under the circumstances. They are both aware that they might never see their family again. Between them is sorrow, despair and differences of opinion. However, there's also love. So, a child is born. A girl named Regina. 

A GERMAN JEWISH GIRL BORN IN AFRICA

Little Regina loves Africa. She loves its people, its languages and dialects. Regina is, as you perhaps guessed, based on the writer herself. At times it feels like the writer is writing a love letter to Africa. The description of Africa are often poetic and feel heart-felt. It is possible that the author was remembering her own childhood in Africa. In fact, when I did some research about this novel, I found that while writing it, the author was surprised that she remembered 'every scene from her childhood.' Whatever be the case, Stefanie Zweig certainly gave a feeling of authenticity to the writing in this novel. There's a magic of childhood interwoven into descriptions of Africa. There's a wonderful passage in the novel, where some African women try to sell bananas to passengers in the train, Regine being one of them. Regina answers the women in Swahili, saying she is as poor as a monkey. The African women smiles and gives her the banana saying it was for the little monkey. There's a moment of closeness between this German Jewish child that was raised in Africa, taught Swahili by an African nanny and that is really in a way-also an African and an African woman. It is a moment that reveals Regina to as someone who is both African and Jewish-German. 

What follows is a quote from the text by Stefanie I quoted throughout this review, telling of her childhood in Africa, her 'true story of Africa': 

"Having learned Swahili with the speed and eagerness of a child longing to talk to people other than her parents, I loved everything about Kenya. I loved its beauty, sights and sounds, the animals and birds - but most of all the gentleness of the African heart, the people's wit and their laughter. Owuor, a man from the tribe of the Luo, our "houseboy", sensed my parents' bewilderment, grasped their hands and guided our lives from the first day to the last. He left Rongai with us, accompanied us to Ol Joro Orok in the so-called "White Highlands", and while my father was in the army, he stayed with my mother in Nairobi. At that time, this was a most unusual decision for an African. Africans were seen by the majority of the Europeans as "natives" with no sense of loyalty, and were frequently abused as dumb and lazy. Knowing nothing of the country's prejudices, my parents felt the same about Owuor as he felt about us. My autobiographical novel Nowhere in Africa is not only dedicated to my father, but also to Owuor. He taught me to see, smell and hear."

This quote tells us of how Stefanie learned Swahili as a child, and how she has grown to love Africans who treated them as equals, unlike other Europeans who discriminated them as Jews. So, she describes a real bond between her German Jewish family and the Africans, most notably Owour who saved her family on a number of occasion. This is also reflected in the novel, as little Regina also learns Swahili as a child (just like Stefanie), treats Africans as equals and is in turn treated by them as equals. 

REGINA AND HER PARENTS REALLY CONNECT WITH THE AFRICANS

Regina and her family strike friendship with Africans. Perhaps on some  level, the Africans feel that the Jewish Europeans are discriminated against by other Europeans. The Africans sense it and they express it with words- You're not like the other Europeans. You're not like other Germans. 

At some point, the British put all the Jewish in some kind of a hotel. It's not exactly a prison, but they are held against their will, so it kind of is. Not a concentration camp but still a prison of sorts. The Jews get segregated by the British authorities. The families are separated. It's really a horrible thing. It's get sorted up, but it's still horrible. 

WALTER JOINS THE ARMY TO FIGHT IN WW2

 The father manages to enroll in the British army to fight in WW2 eventually. Walter doesn't speak  English, so you can imagine how hard it is for him being in the English army. He does his best, as always. Walter manages to become a part of the English army despite the language barrier. He even gets along with some army men. One officer assures him- I'm not English, I'm Scottish. However, antisemitism of the other Europeans is present in the novel. Some might wonder, how could Walter possibly consider going back to Germany as a Jew. As the novel progresses, I had a feeling I understood Walter better. Antisemitism is everywhere. There's no fleeing it. Plus, German is his mother tongue. For Walter, Germany is his home, and nothing, not even the World World Two will change it. 

THE GERMAN JEWISH IDENTITY 

This novel questions identity in an interesting way. The father decides to return to Germany. Why? It might be because he feels German. He is a Jew but also a German. Something that might seem impossible to some.  He keeps repeating that not all Germans are Nazis. By the end of the book, I wondered if he didn't mean himself. If he didn't consider himself a full German. Doing some research, I found that Stefanie commented on that, how her father longed to live in a country where he wouldn't be judged for his accent. Walter wanted to live in a country where he would speak German- his mother tongue. 

THERE'S ALSO THE QUESTION OF LANGUAGE IDENTITY

Once the post-war hatred poured on Germans, the German Jews were not spared. After the WW2, German became a language many hated. This made life very uncomfortable for millions of Jews who were native German speakers. Many of these German and European Jews were spoke only German and now they were prosecuted for it. Is German language to be blamed for WW2? Certainly not, but suddenly it became if not a 'persona non grata' then language/lingua non grata. 

There's such a thing as a language identity and it's something I (as a language teacher) often think about. Regina acts as a translator for her parents most of the novel. Walter and Jettel somehow manage to send Regina to school where she learns perfect English. She becomes the only person in her family to speak English fluently. 

Initially Regina resents being send to school, but she learns to love English literature. This was also Stefanie's experience, and she describes studying hard as she felt it was her duty. Regina and Stefanie's parents could barely afford her education, so the girls (both the fictional and the real one), perfected their English to make their parents proud:

"In 1939 school became compulsory for Europeans. Because the war broke out at the same time, I blamed Hitler for the heartbreak of having to leave my parents and the farm. The Nakuru Government school was 200 miles from home and I hated it. I was an only child, pampered by adoring parents, homesick, shy and speechless - I could not speak a word of English and I had no idea what was expected from me. Having learned the language, I thought it my filial duty to be top of the class - school fees were £5 per month, my father earned £6, and I wanted him to feel that he was investing his hard-earned money well. It complicated my life that swots who were not good at sports were extremely unpopular at Nakuru. Loathing boarding school and its rigid discipline did not keep me from loving the English, their literature and history. I had an unforgettable teacher who fed the insatiable 11-year-old with Dickens, Thackeray and Shakespeare. Hamlet was the second man of my life. To this day I read Shelley, Keats and Robert Browning. To quote Rupert Brooke, one of my first idols: there is some far corner of a foreign field that is forever England."*

A SET OF MEMORABLE CHARACTERS

There's so many memorable characters in this novel. One is the principal of school who strikes a friendship with Regina. The principal doesn't usually talk with the kids, but he makes an expectation for Regina. Impressed with her academic efforts (Regina studies so hard she skips two classes as soon as she starts school), the principal and Regina talk about English literature.

There's also a charming family friend who impresses young Regina a lot. There's naturally also mentioning of lost family members. One day family gets a letter from family members telling them they are going to Poland. What they didn't know is that there were going Auschwitz. There's tragedy and sadness in this novel.  Fates of many characters are interwoven with sorrow. The characters feel human. They suffer and at times get overwhelmed with life. 

This is all based on real events. As Stefanie says: 

"Unfortunately for me, I had to learn far more than my teachers were prepared to teach me. By the age of 10, I knew where Auschwitz was and what "not getting out of Germany in time" meant - my grandfather and two aunts were murdered in concentration camps. I never talked about that at school. Neither did I let my parents know that I worshipped British fairies, and dreamed of waking up one day and not being a little refugee girl, embarrassed by a mother with a horrible accent and by a father who had no idea who Wordsworth was. Only when he joined the British army in 1944 and visited me at school in his sergeant's uniform was I reconciled with having been born in Germany and having a surname which tied English tongues."* 

STEFANIE DESCRIBES ACTUALLY STRUGGLING AFTER RETURNING TO GERMANY

The language identity is such an interesting topic to discuss, and particularly in the context of this novel. While the novel does not cover Regina's return to Germany and her adaptation to a new environment, Stefanie wrote of her struggles. You see, Stefanie was top of her class in her British school. Stefanie achieved that success with hard work, first becoming fluent in English and then becoming the best student. However, once she returned to Germany, Stefanie was never the top of her class again. Of course, Stefanie spoke German with her parents, but she did not use it in school. Stefanie did not study in German, and so she did not acquire the advanced vocabulary. People who don't have this experience have no idea how hard it is to jump from one school system to another, from studying in one country to studying in another. Stefanie still isn't certain what is her real mother tongue: German or English. 

"I knew early in life that my dearly-loved father was pining for his old profession and a country which did not brand him a foreigner the moment he started talking. So it did not come as a surprise when immediately at the end of the war he announced that we were going back to Germany, but I still feel the shock. Now it was I who had to give up home and language, tradition, loyalty and love. In April 1947 we arrived in Frankfurt. The allied bombs had left the town in shambles, people lived in rags and houses without roofs, woke up hungry and went hungry to bed. Electricity was rationed, good manners and decency even more. It took us (my brother was one year old) 10 months to find a place to live. Till then we were lodged in one room at the former Jewish hospital, spending our days hunting for food and our evenings wondering why nearly every German we talked to told us that they had always hated Hitler and had felt pity for the persecuted Jews. Even my father, appointed as a judge immediately after arriving in Frankfurt and happy to have his only wish in life granted, got to wondering whether the Germans had lost not only the war, but also their memory and sense of shame. I was never top of my class again. Having only talked German to my parents during the holidays, I had to start with a new language for the third time in life - at the age of 15 far less keen to do so than at the age of five. Learning German so that I could read and write and get rid of my English accent took me a couple of months; the assessment as to which is my mother-language is still going on. " * 

MORE READING RECOMMENDATIONS FROM JEWISH AUTHORS

 THE HUMAN STAIN, A NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN-JEWISH WRITER PHILIP ROTH 

THE MAGNETIC CLOUD, A NOVEL BY A POLISH- JEWISH WRITER STANISLAW LEM

EDEN & THE INVINCIBLE, NOVELS BY STANISLAW LEM

RETURN FROM THE STARTS, A NOVEL BY STANISLAW LEM

SOLARIS, A NOVEL BY STANISLAW LEM

FIMA, A NOVEL BY ISRAELI WRITER AMOS OZ

HERZOG, A NOVEL BY AMERICAN-JEWISH WRITER SAUL BELLOW

ANNA FRANK, THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL

CONCLUSION- A HIGLY RECOMMENDED NOVEL!

The narrative is  linear and the writing is easy to follow. The novel is written from a third person omniscient point of view, but it is not devoid of personality. It's rich in dialogue. It focuses on its characters a lot. Therefore, it feels quite personal. The descriptions of Africa are wonderful. There's also maturity in the writing. It feels like the author had had time to ponder her life and write her own conclusions about things.

What I got from this novel was a rewarding reading experience. I got from it many things at once. While reading it, I sometimes had a feeling that I was listening to someone narrate their own life. At other times, I  got a feeling I was reading a regular novel with a well developed plot and characters. Moreover, sometimes the writing felt philosophical and meditative. In short,  Nowhere in Africa is all the things an ideal autobiographical novel should be. It's imaginative and yet realistic, warm and serious at the same time. 

I definitely recommend this novel to everyone. If you are not much of a reader, go for the film version. I haven't seen it, but supposedly, it's quite good. It's certainly a tale worth telling. 

*The photographs in this post are a few years old, but I don't think I have posted them before. I just picked a few I liked because I didn't have the photos of actually posing with the book. The photographs of the books (my summer reads) are obviously new. You might have seen some of the covers already. Plus, there's one new author that I'm about to review. Can you find his name on the book covers?

 As always thank you for reading and visiting.