House of Stone

A powerful and intensely human insight into the civil war in Zimbabwe, focusing on a white farmer and his maid who find themselves on opposing sides. In 2000, after Robert Mugabe had launched his controversial land reform programme, Nigel Hough held on to a fervent hope that he might keep hold of his ostrich farm. A few months later, however, he arrived home to see his family residence and livelihood violently seized by veterans -- and to his shock saw his former maid Akwe at their head. By tracing the intertwining lives of Nigel and Akwe -- rich and poor, white and black, master and maid -- Christina Lamb not only presents both sides of the Zimbabwean dilemma, but captures in achingly intimate terms her own uplifting conviction that, although savaged, there is still hope for one of Africa's most beautiful countries.