Nowhere in Africa

An Autobiographical Novel

By: Stefanie Zweig

Narrated by: Max Roll

Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Nowhere in Africa is the extraordinary tale of a Jewish family who flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya. Abandoning their once-comfortable existence in Germany, Walter Redlich, his wife Jettel, and their five-year-old daughter, Regina, each deal with the harsh realities of their new life in different ways. Attorney Walter is resigned to working the farm as a caretaker; pampered Jettel resists adjustment at every turn; while the shy yet curious Regina immediately embraces the country - learning the local language and customs, and finding a friend in Owuor, the farm's cook. As the war rages on the other side of the world, the family’s relationships with their strange environment become increasingly complicated as Jettel grows more self-assured and Walter more haunted by the life they left behind.

In 1946, with the war over, Regina's fondest dream comes true when her brother Max is born. Walter's decision, however, to return to his homeland to help rebuild a new Germany puts his family into turmoil again.

©2004 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System (P)2014 Audible Inc.

authentic!!

A true reflection of Africa, of to "be, being in Africa"
A very welcome interpretation of culture, interaction and much more.
Thank you!

Amazing book!

Where has this book been hiding? Absolutely amazing in all respects. The insight into such diverse characters is gifted. We had to go back and listen again.

I had no idea the African story

This gives insight into those lucky enough to escape Nazi Germany and what they lost and gained and why they would want to go back. Good read on a topic I knew nothing about

I loved this book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I've been concentrating on listening to WW II books as I wanted to learn more about that time in history, especially how the Nazis treated people in the various countries like France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia etc. I had not read any books that dealt with German Jews fleeing Germany into Africa, so this was new for me. The history of Jews living and trying to leave Germany and the hardships and atrocities they encounter are pretty well documented in other books, and this one does spend some time on that process, but once the family arrives in Africa, wow!

Ms. Zweig does a fantastic job writing about the lives and hardships of those who have had to leave their country, but she does an amazing job of writing about the relationships that develop between the fleeing Jews and the local tribes people of Kenya.The descriptions remind me a bit of "the Power of One", written by Bryce Courtenay, who was born in Africa and had to leave his country because of apartheid problems there. He met and married an Australian woman and lived and wrote in Australia until his death recently.

Anyway, Ms. Zweig has caught the rhythm, melody and unique way of thinking of the local people. I loved the blend of each, European and African, as they viewed a problem or situation that needed some solution. The daughter, who is very young when she arrives in Africa, is caught between two worlds, her parents' and her adopted Africa's. She becomes a rather split personality, when it comes to her thinking processes.

This is an historical novel, set in Germany and Africa but it's timber and tone is so different from many of the offerings you will come across. If you are looking for a book that gives information about WWII but is not the run of the mill account then this book is for you.

One of my best listens from audible.

I just loved this book. The reader was outstanding and read Stephanie Zweig’s words as beautifully as she wrote them. His accents for the various characters was amazing and brought each one to life. I think I will listen to this book again sometime as it was so enjoyable.

Loved this book

This book is wonderfully written and the narrator, Max Roll is fantastic. A very moving story.

A beautiful novel

This is more than an autobiography told in words but a book told in feelings, thoughts, ideas shared through the senses. The similes, metaphors and personifications create an atmosphere that allows the reader to feel the experiences of the characters. It is a beautiful novel that can be enjoyed even better the second reading.

Book Even Better than Oscar-Winning Movie

This autobiographical novel operates on several levels: a holocaust memoir a thrilling adventure, and a family drama.

Driven from Nazi Germany to Kenya, the family must adjust, with varying levels of success, to life in a completely foreign land. They were glad to be safe from the Nazis, but now had to contend with the racism and anti-semitism of their host nation, and the English colonizers, and also the guilt and worry of what was happening in Europe.

Family dynamics, and the horror and confusion of displacement, are at the heart of this audiobook. The father's haunting guilt, the mother's resistance to change, daughter Regina's embrace of her new land. Africa, from the viewpoint of Regina, seems almost magical and full of possibility, but also completely destabilizing.

Narrator, Max Roll has a wide variety of accents and personalities to contend with, and he does a superb job of making each voice distinct and alive. He brings pathos to the reading that adds tremendously to the story.

What a fantastic pearl of a story

This is a story about refugees, or how it might is to be a refugee. How it is to escape a deadly regime and then end up as a farmer in Africa. Not that farming was your profession, but you need money so you better start over and learn. How to get your family over to Africa, how to save your family? Is it possible to save them all? What about language, other people? How it might be to turn your life over 100% as a war refugee, to get new friends. This is not a story from today but it might as well have been. The struggle in a new country, the language barrier, customs, snobs, and your fear for what happens back home. What about family and friends? It is a fate a lot of people deal with today as well
It's a story about depressions, loneliness but also happiness and love.
It gave me a lot and I will recommend it highly

So touching so alive

Max Roll is the perfect person to read this story about hardship, love, and life of a family in Africa after having escaped Germany from the Nazis. He brings all the characters from this book to life. In the end you will love the whole family, even the high maintenance mother.

For me this is one of those books which makes you want to read more, Make you look for another jewel.