Reviews for Leopard at the door

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

During the waning years of the British Empire, a young woman returns to her fathers Kenyan farm after boarding school in England only to find home is no longer the safe, happy place she recalls.Rachel Fullsmith lost her mother when she was only 12, on the same day she witnessed violence at her uncles factory during a strike. Having grown up on her parents farm in the African bush, she never felt at home in England, where her bereaved father sent her after her mother's death. As soon as she finishes school, she returns to Kenya but finds another woman living in her fathers home and all the familiar routines of the farm upended both by her pseudo-stepmothers rigidand racistviews and by the terror of the nascent Mau Mau rebellion. Torn between the memory of her once-loving home and the trauma and loss she and the people she knew as a child have experienced, Rachel tries to understand the political and social circumstances that have altered her world. McVeigh (The Fever Tree, 2013) creates real emotional tension as Rachel tries to hang on to all that reminds her of her mother. Will she reconnect with her father? Can she grow to accept, if not love, his new family? Will treating black Kenyans with the kindness her mother taught her put Rachel in harms way? Will the man she saw murder a striker on the day she learned of her mothers death become as great a threat to Rachel as the Mau Mau? All of this is set against Rachels growing attraction to Michael, her former tutor and her fathers employee, and the danger of their forbidden relationship. Readers who want a story that keeps them on edge will enjoy this historical novel rich with emotional and sociopolitical drama. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Returning to her father's farm in Kenya after six years in England, Rachel finds her childhood home vastly transformed. Everything, from her father's new girlfriend to the shifting political climate in Kenya, marks changes that make Rachel feel she no longer fits into the life she remembered. As the Mau Mau, a secret African society intent on overthrowing the British colonial rulers, gain power, Rachel's family is thrown into danger. When her father goes to defend his land, he leaves Rachel in the care of the deceitful and lecherous Steven. But Rachel carries a childhood secret that may protect her from Steven. With the Mau Mau getting closer, however, she will need something stronger to save her from such a deadly threat. The historical African setting plays a central role in this coming-of-age story and offers a sensory tour of the Kenyan savannah in the 1950s. Though the plot keeps the pages turning, the characters are unlikable and underdeveloped. VERDICT McVeigh's second novel (after The Fever Tree) may disappoint that book's admirers as this tale is far from heartwarming and not for those who want a happy ending. But fans of historicals in which setting is key, as in Frank Delaney's Irish epics, might appreciate. [See Prepub Alert, 8/1/16.]-Kristen Calvert Nelson, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

When her mother died, 12-year-old Rachel was sent from Kenya to live with her grandparents in England. Six years later, she returns, eager to resume what she remembers as an idyllic life on the remote farm her parents settled. But things have changed. Her father's new love interest, Sara, has taken Rachel's mother's place in the house. Relations with the Kikuyu who live and work on the farm have shifted. And there are disturbing stories about Mau Mau attacks against Europeans. As Rachel tries to come to terms with her new sense of unbelonging, she crosses paths again with two men from the past, one a predatory district officer and the other a young African who once served as her tutor. With violence edging ever closer to the farm, Rachel's naïveté gives way to a growing awareness that nothing is as simple as she once believed. Though the ending tips into melodrama, McVeigh (The Fever Tree, 2013) does a good job of charting Rachel's growth amidst political and personal turmoil, set against a backdrop of Kenya's wild beauty.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2016 Booklist


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Set in the 1950s, this historical novel details the homecoming of Rachel Fullsmith to her father's farm in Kenya. McVeigh (The Fever Tree) uses Rachel's story to examine the cultural and political changes wrought by the waning of the British Empire and the impending Mau Mau rebellion. This is much more than an "issues" novel, however. It is a coming-of-age tale of a young woman who is trying to find her place in the world. Rachel was 12 when her mother died and her father sent her to an English boarding school; she is now 18 and shocked to find how dramatically things have changed in the years she has been away. Her father is living with a woman whose racist views are at odds with the values Rachel's mother taught her, and the household no longer feels like home. Will the secrets Rachel carries-one rooted in the past, the other in her growing relationship with her former tutor-help her come to terms with the changes in her family and in her country? British actress Katherine McEwan provides a rich narration that fully renders both the individual characters and the descriptions of life in mid-20th century Kenya. VERDICT Both social commentary and an engaging story; highly recommended for all readers. ["McVeigh's second novel may disappoint...this tale is far from heartwarming and not for those who want a happy ending": LJ 12/16 review of the Putnam hc.]-Wendy Galgan, St. Francis Coll., Brooklyn © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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