Kate Nicholls left England to raise her five children in Botswana: an experience that would change each of their lives. Living on a shoestring in a lion conservation camp, Kate home-schools her family under a camelthorn tree while they also learn at first hand about the individual lives of wild lions. Their deep attachment to these magnificent animals is palpable.
This contemporary, gritty and humorous memoir explores the shocking impact of PTSD on a close-knit family, and their eventual recovery. It is a timely book that shines a light on an aspect of sexual crime that is often shrouded in shame: children of parents with PTSD can suffer collateral damage. The character-driven narrative moves effectively across time and place, revealing the gradual fragmentation of a strong woman. Kate Nicholls pulls no punches and her passion to act as advocate for the secondary victims of trauma is expressed in raw, unsentimental prose. She skilfully counterbalances this with amusing insight into family life. She explores the universal challenges of child-rearing with wit and engaging honesty, offering an unsanitised insight into raising a family in the African bush.
Kate Nicholls' tightly constructed narrative has received widespread praise and she made a much-acclaimed appearance at the Hay Festival with Jane Garvey in May 2019.
My Thoughts:
Under the Camelthorn Tree by Kate Nicholls is a memoir that explores a life of adventure and stepping away from what is comfortable for a complete change. Kate Nicholls as a single parent that took her five children to live in Botswana in a Lion Conservation camp. They didn't have a lot of money but they were far richer for the experience.
Sadly whilst in Africa Kate suffers an attack by three men that alters her and her mental health. This is a story of Motherhood and trauma and the havoc it can wreak and it is also a story of recovery. Kate goes on to work to educate the people from Botswana communities about HIV and sexual crimes.
Kate Nicholls writes with a warmth and wit that I found particularly enjoyable to read. This book was in turns amusing and then obviously there were difficult and emotive sections too. I found it an altogether an enjoyable account of seizing opportunities wherever they may take you.
I found this book to be equally exciting and informative. An education on the far reaching outcomes of trauma and PTSD but also of a mother willing to strive for more for her children and a thirst for adventure. I enjoyed the beauty and the lions of Botswana also.
About the Author:
Under the Camelthorn Tree by Kate Nicholls is a memoir that explores a life of adventure and stepping away from what is comfortable for a complete change. Kate Nicholls as a single parent that took her five children to live in Botswana in a Lion Conservation camp. They didn't have a lot of money but they were far richer for the experience.
Sadly whilst in Africa Kate suffers an attack by three men that alters her and her mental health. This is a story of Motherhood and trauma and the havoc it can wreak and it is also a story of recovery. Kate goes on to work to educate the people from Botswana communities about HIV and sexual crimes.
Kate Nicholls writes with a warmth and wit that I found particularly enjoyable to read. This book was in turns amusing and then obviously there were difficult and emotive sections too. I found it an altogether an enjoyable account of seizing opportunities wherever they may take you.
I found this book to be equally exciting and informative. An education on the far reaching outcomes of trauma and PTSD but also of a mother willing to strive for more for her children and a thirst for adventure. I enjoyed the beauty and the lions of Botswana also.
About the Author:
Born in London, into a theatrical family in 1954, Kate Nicholls
has lived her life energised by her favourite quote.“An unexamined life is not
worth living.”
She is insatiably curious and self-educated. She left home, and
school, age sixteen to pursue a successful career in the theatre. Age
twenty-one she had her first of six children. Now, she has five children, and
three grandchildren: with another on the way. She gave up her acting career age
thirty-nine to study biology.
In 1996 she moved to Botswana with her children and worked for
an NGO Women Against Rape. Later she became co-principal researcher at the
Okavango Lion Conservation Project– where for eleven years she studied
lions–raising and home-schooling her children under a tree.
In 2010 she returned to the UK where she continued educating her
youngest son and started her home-school business. Her children all graduated
into top Universities in the USA and the UK.
She moved to Rome, Italy in 2015 where she wrote her first
book Under the Camelthorn
Tree. Passionate about educational reform, and integrated
learning, she continues her business devising bespoke programmes for individual
students.
She is writing her second book.
You can find the author on Twitter : @FrankieFurbo or on her Website: https://www.katenicholls.org/under-the-camelthorn-tree-1
Please also do have a look at some of the other stops on the blog tour.
Thanks so much for the blog tour support xx
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your thoughtful review. I am really glad you enjoyed the book.
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