Leopard at the Door

(Paperback)

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Description

A gripping love story set during Kenya's Mau Mau uprising Stepping off the boat in Mombasa, eighteen-year-old Rachel Fullsmith stands on Kenyan soil for the first time in six years. She has come home. But when she reaches the family farm at the end of the dusty Rift Valley Road, Rachel finds that much has changed. Her father has moved his new lover and her strange son into the family home. And Michael, the handsome Kikuyu boy from her childhood, has started to look at her differently. When rumours of violence between the Mau Mau freedom fighters and British soldiers start to grow, Rachel is faced with a terrible dilemma. Can she be her father's daughter, and be true to herself And what if choosing one means losing the other

Reviews

The beating heart of Africa springs into dazzling heat-drenched life. I could taste the sun soaked sweetness of bananas, see the shimmering plains and smell the rippling grasslands. I could feel the ever present sense of threat and menace. And within this landscape populated by elephants, baboons and antelope a powerful human story plays out. A simply stunning novel that will stay with me: a magnificent book. -- Dinah Jefferies
This is a book that will steal your heart. It is a wonderful, stunning, heart-wrenching tale of love, danger and self-discovery. Jennifer McVeigh's descriptions of life in Kenya are electric in intensity and open up the world of Africa in vivid detail in a way that totally beguiled me. I couldn't put it down. Her prose is so exquisite, it took me places I have never been before. A powerful, painful and brilliant book. -- Kate Furnivall, bestselling author of The Russian Concubine
Right from the deliciously descriptive prologue, I knew I was in for a treat with this book. Jennifer McVeigh manages to transport the reader right to the heart of Africa with her vivid atmospheric prose. -- Kathryn Hughes
Leopard at the Door expertly transports its reader to a richly-depicted world that is fraught both politically and personally. Danger constantly hums around Rachel Fullsmith as she navigates the complex, conflicting desires of men and women, native Kenyans and white colonists. It kept me turning pages well into the night! -- Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist
Heartbreaking... the characters are brilliantly drawn. Loving this book and can't wait to get back to it -- Tracy Rees, bestselling author of Amy Snow
[A] captivating and thought-provoking story. . . McVeigh's beautiful prose and harrowing plot will quickly absorb readers, particularly those interested in 1950s Africa, by sensitively approaching themes of race, cultural evolution, and the humanness that unites us all. * Publishers Weekly *
McVeigh does a good job of charting Rachel's growth amidst political and personal turmoil, set against a backdrop of Kenya's wild beauty. * Booklist *
Readers who want a story that keeps them on edge will enjoy this historical novel rich with emotional and sociopolitical drama * Kirkus Reviews *
There is nothing more exciting than a new writer with a genuine voice. I loved it -- Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, on 'The Fever Tree'
A bewitching tale of loss, betrayal and love -- Vogue on 'The Fever Tree'
Vividly written - a gripping story -- Kim Edwards on 'The Fever Tree'

Author Bio

Jennifer McVeigh graduated from Oxford University in 2002. She went on to work in film, radio and publishing before giving up her day job to study for an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. She has travelled in wilderness areas of East Africa and southern Africa, driving and camping along the way. Her first novel, The Fever Tree (Penguin, 2012), was a Richard and Judy Book Club Pick and received widespread critical acclaim.