Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness

By: Alexandra Fuller

Narrated by: Bianca Amato

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Alexandra Fuller won worldwide attention, popular acclaim, and critical accolades for her memoir of her childhood in Africa, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight. This engaging follow-up explores Fuller’s parents’ childhoods and charts the trajectories of their lives through all the British couple’s experiences in war-torn Africa.

Fuller braids a multilayered narrative around the perfectly lit, Happy Valley-era Africa of her mother's childhood; the boiled cabbage grimness of her father's English childhood; and the darker, civil war- torn Africa of her own childhood. At its heart, this is the story of Fuller's mother, Nicola. Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye and raised in Kenya, Nicola holds dear the kinds of values most likely to get you hurt or killed in Africa: loyalty to blood, passion for land, and a holy belief in the restorative power of all animals. Fuller interviewed her mother at length and has captured her inimitable voice with remarkable precision. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is as funny, terrifying, exotic, and unselfconscious as Nicola herself.

©2011 Alexandra Fuller (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Another gem from Alexandra Fuller

Simply a fantastic book. I just enjoy her African stories and hearings about her mom and dad.

Top notch....

I was a little leery at first, approaching this novel, having been bowled over by Fuller's initial star effort "Dogs" but also being slightly disappointed by Fuller's follow-on work. This book is a perfect compliment to "Dogs", full of insight, compassion, grit and finally, courageous in depicting one's irrepressible mother with such fierce honesty yet admiring love and by being, thank goodness, free of victimhood. I was hoping that Lisette Lescat would once again be the narrator, but Bianca Amato more than measures up to the task. Bravos all around!!

Delightfully Entertaining Perseverance in Africa

If you want to get out of your world and into another's - sit back and enjoy. Struggles, conflicts and loss keep this family coming back for the love and beauty that is only unique to Africa.

A good follow on

I did not enjoy this as much as "Don't let's go to the dogs tonight" but it was still a very enjoyable listen.
It manages to capture so much of what is modern Africa.

Well worth the price.

I wish the author had narrated this memoir

After listening to Fuller read "Travel Light, Move Fast" I could not help being disappointed by the narrator here. The accent seemed wrong, and the odd pauses and, especially, the singing just put me off. Others will certainly disagree.

I did truly enjoy the story though. I have read three of Fuller's other books and this one pulls a lot of that history together from her mother's perspective but seen through the author's eyes.

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness

I enjoyed Ms. Fuller's first book as well. Tales of an era gone by. How we do forget!

Charming character describes her African life

Would you consider the audio edition of Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness to be better than the print version?

Cant say.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Obviously Nicola Fuller of Central Africa

Which character – as performed by Bianca Amato – was your favorite?

The narrator

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Rhodesian confrontation with liberation fighters.

Any additional comments?

A distinctive voice of a charming, although flawed, woman and the adventures she has lived through in various central African countries over the last 60 years or so.

Beautiful story of a complicated time.

I laughed and cried and felt deeply with both the author and the complex woman she describes, her mother. Her humor makes a terrifying story easy to listen to. Having lived on the beautiful continent during this same time period, I was able to appreciate the loyalty Nicola Fuller felt. It is the narrator that makes this book come to life. Amazing job!

Interesting and provides some historical insights

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Gives you insights into what British settlers experienced, some humor, some sad, good description of dynamics of mother/daughter and siblings. Is the Mother stable? Yet we all have someone like this and move through life. Pace is a bit slow, but good for long runs.

Would you recommend Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness to your friends? Why or why not?

To pass the time, doesn't grab you but does entertain you.

Which scene was your favorite?

Discovering the tree, talking on the veranda

Could you see Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Maybe a movie, definitely Meryl Streep, maybe Judy Dench both have the underlying "iron" with a shade of crazy in some of their performances.

Africa as palette

The beauty and despair of Central Africa captured through the life stories of a white settler.