It's Never Black and White: An African Memoir : 9781779620736

It is Rhodesia, 1978. After years of economic sanctions, military service and the patriarch's deteriorating health, the family is about to leave. All that is left is a short holiday for the old folk to visit their daughter at Lake Kariba. Margaret and Walter have a relaxing few days, and board flight RH 825 to return to Salisbury. This is Margaret's second flight ever. Her first was the one taking her to Kariba days earlier.

The plane is shot out of the sky minutes after departure.

The eldest son returns to Zimbabwe after a thirty-year absence, hoping to find his aging nanny, a constant presence for the twenty years he spent there. He will also visit Hurungwe, where the Viscount was brought down. The exploration of his old haunts around Harare is punctuated with scenes from his younger days.

The journey turns out to be a little more profound than expected, and he returns to his guesthouse each night to share his thoughts with a soapstone carving.