![]() ![]() Her husband is almost always gone, and when he does show up, he is gruff and almost scornful of his wife. Nimmo, it’s unclear how much it extends beyond physical. Nimmo and Lettice Palmer are both shown to have engaged in extramarital relationships. I’m pretty sure Huxley used fake names for the people in her story – indeed I know she did for her parents – but the characters of Mrs. Like, for example, the rather obvious inclusion of not one but TWO extramarital affairs in The Flame Trees of Thika. I suppose it shouldn’t be so surprising that a child alone among adults in a colonial, rural situation, would be exposed to subjects that we might not consider appropriate for a five or six-year-old. The remaining 200 maintained much of that, but also had an element that completely took me by surprise. So, remember how I remarked up on the dreamy quality of childhood memories recounted in Elspeth Huxley’s memoir The Flame Trees of Thika? ‘The traveller does not give a present to those who stay, it is those who remain who give presents to the traveller to help him on his journey, and bring about his safe return.’ I thought perhaps the knife would do and offered it to Kupanya, but he shook his head. I thanked him, and looked for something to give in return, but my pockets yielded only a crumpled handkerchief, a knife, a few beans, and bits of string. ![]()
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