Beneath African Skies by Gillie Bowen
On a cold, wet and windy day in London on12th February 1820, John and Elizabeth Hudson boarded The Zoroaster, a small sailing vessel, which would take fourteen weeks to reach Simon’s Town in South Africa. Just married and only 20 years old, they had been lured by a free passage and a hundred acres of…
On a cold, wet and windy day in London on12th February 1820, John and Elizabeth Hudson boarded The Zoroaster, a small sailing vessel, which would take fourteen weeks to reach Simon’s Town in South Africa. Just married and only 20 years old, they had been lured by a free passage and a hundred acres of prime agricultural land in the Zuurveld. In fact, on this barren and inhospitable land, the 1820 Settlers would act as a human buffer between the warring black tribes in the East and the European colony on the western perimeter.
A hundred years later, their descendants, George and Molly Hudson face more hardships when, as children, they witness the horror of a tribal castration and survive hyena, crocodile and cobra attacks. Typhoid fever, murder, crater plunges and gold rush mania will challenge their young lives. Torn apart, George faces the perils of war as an RAF fighter pilot and Molly finds herself a pregnant and lonely bride in war-torn Britain. Will their love survive the desperate hardships that they must face?
“Quite an adventure!”
Five Star Review on Amazon By angela phillips
Having finished the book last week, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised about the fact that this is the author’s family story. It was the kind of read where you can’t wait to get back to it, to see what is going to happen next. These families were true pioneers, leaving all the comforts of their homeland to travel to a harsh, desert climate with absolutely nothing familiar to them when they reached their new home. Between the language barrier, the desolate weather conditions, and the open plains with all the dangers that come with wild animals, it had my attention from the first paragraph in the book. Loved it!
About the Author
Biography: ‘Beneath African Skies’ is a true story of the Hudson family whose forebears, John Hougham and Elizabeth Hudson, were amongst a band of brave young people known as the 1820 White Settlers. They left their Kentish home in England over 190 years ago to make a new life for themselves in South Africa. Four generations later, in 1918, George Hudson was born in Benoni, near Johannesburg. His sister, Molly, was born fifteen months later – she was my mother. I was fascinated by the very close relationship she had with her brother, a war-time RAF hero. Before they died, both aged 91, they helped me piece together their story – and the story of my ancestors.
I am the co-author of the best-selling cookbook ‘amuse-bouche’, a collection of French recipes and photographs adapted for the British and American market. An amuse-bouche, roughly translated, is a ‘taste tantalizer’ or an ‘appetite teaser’. Its purpose is to introduce exciting, unusual flavours in tiny quantities at the onset or in the middle of a meal.
I am also the author of ‘Forged Exit’, a romantic thriller published in 2014, relating to the events following the brief ‘Prague Spring’. On August 21st 1968 Russian tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia and the Irton Curtain slammed down, tragically separating families, friends and lovers…
Personal Anecdotes: I was born in Nakuru in Kenya and travelled the world extensively as a child with my parents. I am a retired British journalist, now living with my husband in the Loire Valley in France. I love to write, to cook, to entertain and to travel.