A further memoir of Danish author Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (1885–1962), written in the 1950s and 1960, this is almost an epilogue to her earlier book Out of Africa. It consists of four short stories, the first featuring her majestic Somali major-domo Farah Aden. The second story is about “Barua A Soldani” or a letter from a king, which she has received and is seen to have healing properties. The third story is about her attempts to act as a doctor for her people, and their fear of going to the hospital. The final story features the correspondence she has with her former servants after she leaves Africa. I liked Abdullahi Ahamed, the very bright child who’s education she sponsors, who goes on to become a judge.

There is a significant dose of imperialism and white saviour complex going on here, but I found this book more relatable than the first as it tells the stories of people and relationships, and gives more insight into her ongoing sadness and nostalgia over having been forced to have given up the farm and her life in Africa. ( )

It’s a pity these four essays could not have been worked into a revised edition of Out of Africa, although revising a memoir is probably not to be encouraged, and these essays would have been difficult to incorporate as each is, in its way, an alternate ending. Still, the essays do lose something standing apart as they do here.

The book’s greatest value, very likely, is in what it reveals about the influence of her African experiences, and the influence of Islam, on her aesthetic.

Four stars if you are a fan; probably of two or three stars if you aren’t. ( )

Very much of its time, landed lady looks back fondly. This is begging for a novel treatment from the staff's perspective. ( )

Blixen (pseudonym Isak Dinesen) is a good writer, but she definitely carries a colonial lens over her time in Africa. This was not at all my favorite. ( )

an addition to her Out of Africa, really should be read along with that one. See review of Out of Africa.

Author wrote this one 30 years after she left Kenya. Its the last book she wrote. She died shortly after its publication. It fills in the facts of what happened to the people that Karen wrote about in her book Out of Africa. We get more information about Farah, the Somali-born servant who acted as her chief of staff. He is depicted as fiercely arrogant and utterly loyal, and his death is one of the most moving and tragic moments in the author's writing. Other characters who figure prominently include Kamante, who goes blind, old Juma, who dies, and Abdullahi, Farah’s son, who ultimately prospers.

In this book, the author is reflective and self disclosing, admitting that the African experiences made her writing possible. We also learn more about Masai and Kikuyu culture and the introduction of Western technology and culture, all of which made them listless and turned their old lives into boredom. There is less on the exotic landscape and animals and more on human values and spiritual appreciation. Perhaps she was saying goodbye to her friends in Africa. The author died of malnutrition. She was unable to eat. Some speculate that she died of anorexia nervosa. ( )