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Drums on the Night Air

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Drums on the Night Air

By: Veronica Cecil
Narrated by: Imogen Church
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Veronica Cecil was 25 years old when her husband was offered a job at a large multi-national company in the Congo. Filled with enthusiasm for their new life, the couple and their 11-month-old son set off for an African adventure. Very soon, however, Veronica began to realise that life in the Congo was not what she had imagined. Food shortages were an everyday occurrence; she felt like an outsider at the club in Léopoldville, which only the Belgians and other expats frequented; and flickers of violence were starting to erupt everywhere.

Six months later Veronica and her family were sent to Elizabetha, a remote palm oil plantation on the banks of the Congo River. But even here paradise didn’t last. Civil war broke out, and the rebels captured the neighbouring town of Stanleyville and took all the whites hostage.

Despite the fact that Veronica was on the verge of giving birth, the situation was so dangerous that she and her toddler had to be evacuated. Leaving her husband and all their possessions behind, she and her son began on a two-day journey through the jungle. But on the plane back to Leopoldville, the first labour pains began....

©2013 Veronica Cecil (P)2013 Audible Ltd
Africa Marriage
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An astonishing novel mixing high drama with historically accurate domestic memories. An incredible attention to detail. The story of Veronica Cecil‘s escape from Africa is wonderfully told in cinematic style. Observation and empathy abound. I knew nothing of central Africa but this novel is a great primer. Wonderfully narrated too. This would make an excellent movie or tv series!

A real life adventure story and history, beautifully remembered.

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