Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: Summary and book reviews of Twenty Chickens for a Saddle by Robyn Scott, plus links to an excerpt from Twenty Chickens for a Saddle and a biography of Robyn Scott.
Twenty Chickens for a Saddle The Story of an African Childhood
by Robyn Scott
Hardcover: Mar 2008,
464 pages.
Paperback: Mar 2009,
464 pages.
Robyn Scott's story of moving at the age of seven to Botswana with her adventure-seeking parents is described by Alexander McCall Smith as "beautifully written" and "acutely observed." It is that and more. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is an exquisitely rendered portrait of Africa, and of childhood, written by an astonishing new talent.
The Scotts are truly one of the most unusual families you are likely to meet. Robyn's father is a flying doctor who always wanted to be a vet. Her mother believes in holistic medicine and homeschooling. Both are deeply eccentric, and under their affectionate but relaxed guidance, life for the children is a daily adventure of the kind usually confined to storybooks.
Storybooks-or being read to from them-comprise, it turns out, most of their homeschooled education. That, and searching the surrounding bush for animals (poisonous and otherwise) to let loose in their schoolroom. As a result of the absolute freedom of spirit, thought, and movement that they are given, all three children grow into fascinating, if rather eccentric, characters in their own right.
When the family moves to a game farm bordering South Africa, the children become more aware of the darker undercurrents of life in Africa. Here the apartheid mind-set lives on in many of their white South African neighbors. And when at fourteen Robyn begins conventional school in neighboring Zimbabwe, she sees more of the racism initially only glimpsed in Botswana. AIDS also rears its head. Long witnessed by Robyn's father at his village clinics, the existence of the disease is acknowledged by the government too late-only as death, on an unprecedented scale, begins to devastate this peaceful and prosperous African country.
Robyn Scott is an extraordinarily gifted writer and storyteller. Like the witch doctors who compete with her father for patients, she weaves a spell from the start. Her funny, moving memoir, told with clear-eyed unsentimental affection, is about an idyllic childhood and a family's enthusiasm for each other and the world around them, with the essence of Africa-both beautiful and challenging-infusing every page.
Most of us read for many reasons. Escape, adventure, understanding of other cultures, but always for a good story. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle, the story of a remarkable family, will give you all of the above and then some. I highly recommend it. (Reviewed by Vy Armour).
Publishers Weekly
She has no sordid revelations, no shocking surprises - just a raconteur's talent for making any story she tells interesting.
Kirkus Reviews
A colorful, occasionally shocking fish-out-of-water memoir.
Publishing News - Sue Baker
If I had just two words allowed for this title, they’d be “stock it”, but I’d go on to say that this is a real gem – an excellent hand-sell title. Nobody could fail to love this story of an eccentric childhood, so movingly and joyously described by Scott.
Michela Wrong, author of In The Footsteps of Mr Kurtz
An elegant, evocative, poignant, beautifully-written piece of work.
Alexander McCall Smith
Both a wonderful memoir of an exotic childhood and a striking portrait of one of the world's most beguiling countries. A gem of a book.
Aminatta Forna, author of The Devil that Danced on the Water and Ancestor Stones
Captivating, candid and utterly fresh. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is a story of childhood, tenderness and joy. It lets in the light.
Since independence in 1966, the
former British Protectorate of
Bechuanaland has transformed
itself from one of the
continent's poorest nations into
one of its most prosperous.
Botswana's vast diamond wealth
has underpinned this boom
(Jwaneng, the world's largest
and richest diamond mine, was
discovered when termites looking
for water brought grains of
diamond to the surface), but,
making it almost unique among
its neighbors, the money has
been carefully spent and
reinvested in infrastructure,
education and health by a
judicious government.
The small population – fewer
than two million in an area
about the size of France – has
also contributed to the...
A beguiling novel that does for contemporary Kenya and its 1,000 species of birds what Alexander McCall Smith’s Ladies Detective series does for Botswana
There is considerable excitement at The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. A cobra has been found in Precious Ramotswe's office. Then a nurse from a local medical clinic reveals that faulty blood–pressure readings are being recorded there. And Botswana has a new advice columnist, Aunty Emang, whose advice is rather curt for Mma...
These are 2 of the 7 readalike suggestions for Twenty Chickens for a Saddle. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
read more
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
Full Story
BookBrowse
(1177 words).
Publishers Weekly
Michela Wrong, author of In The Footsteps of Mr Kurtz
