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White Highlands
Shortlisted for the Author's Club First Novel Award
'Remarkable and redemptive . . . like the best of John le Carre' A. L. Kennedy
Kenya, 1952, a colony on the edge. Settlers drink sundowners on the veranda but the servants can't be trusted. Beyond manicured lawns, in the dark of the forest, freedom is stirring.
Johnny Seymour has seen too much war and seeks solace photographing East African wildlife. But when isolated white families are slaughtered by Mau Mau gangs, the British respond brutally and Johnny is reluctantly pulled into the horror. After his African driver Macharia disappears, Johnny is forced to confront shocking truths about his own country and ask how far he'll go to help a friend.
Nearly sixty years later, disgraced young barrister Sam Seymour knows nothing about her grandfather. Even his name is taboo. All she understands is that Johnny did something so awful that his only son - her father - had to be rescued from Kenya. With veteran Mau Mau fighters demanding reparations for past sins, she's been offered a chance to unpeel history and discover why.
In a narrative spanning the generations, White Highlands follows Sam and Johnny as they confront the might of the British state. One man stands in both their way - Grogan Littleboy, a ruthless colonial survivor who'll do anything to defeat Mau Mau, past and present.
A startlingly original novel set in both the present day and Kenya in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising - one of the least known and darkest episodes in British colonial history.
'Remarkable and redemptive . . . like the best of John le Carre' A. L. Kennedy
Kenya, 1952, a colony on the edge. Settlers drink sundowners on the veranda but the servants can't be trusted. Beyond manicured lawns, in the dark of the forest, freedom is stirring.
Johnny Seymour has seen too much war and seeks solace photographing East African wildlife. But when isolated white families are slaughtered by Mau Mau gangs, the British respond brutally and Johnny is reluctantly pulled into the horror. After his African driver Macharia disappears, Johnny is forced to confront shocking truths about his own country and ask how far he'll go to help a friend.
Nearly sixty years later, disgraced young barrister Sam Seymour knows nothing about her grandfather. Even his name is taboo. All she understands is that Johnny did something so awful that his only son - her father - had to be rescued from Kenya. With veteran Mau Mau fighters demanding reparations for past sins, she's been offered a chance to unpeel history and discover why.
In a narrative spanning the generations, White Highlands follows Sam and Johnny as they confront the might of the British state. One man stands in both their way - Grogan Littleboy, a ruthless colonial survivor who'll do anything to defeat Mau Mau, past and present.
A startlingly original novel set in both the present day and Kenya in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising - one of the least known and darkest episodes in British colonial history.
- GenresHistorical FictionAfrica
430 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 2, 2017
When I started reading this my heart sank a little at the ubiquitous dual time-frame but I didn't need to worry: McGhie hasn't just fallen into an over-used structure but actually exploits the device to bring closure to a story which has its main body in the mid-1950s, during the Mau Mau resistance to the iniquities of British colonial rule in Kenya.
The story itself is expansive, often harrowing (and rightly so), and unflinching in its depictions of torture and violence. The characterisation is strong throughout and well-rounded: it's especially refreshing to have a 'hero' in Johnny Seymour who is nervous and edgy, who doesn't always behave in a way in which he wishes he could, who puts personal interest above political urgency - and who never forgives himself for his own moral failure. Making a fictional stand against the model of the plucky British (or should that be English?) super-hero, all integrity, bravery, nobility and honour of so much C19th-early C20th imperial fiction is itself a telling and thoughtful move on the part of McGhie.
The depiction of the 'Pipeline', a series of British camps set up to interrogate, 'rehabilitate' and, ultimately, dispose of rebels against British rule is done with an attention to detail that they deserve, with chilling reminders of the way they duplicate, in miniature, both the Nazi labour and death camps, and Stalin's gulag.
There are so many lovely touches throughout the book that are a testament to its political sophistication and sensitivity: the understanding of the difference between a man with black skin (a description) and being a 'black man' (an identity); the attentiveness to war crimes against women; even the ability to step back and not allow the white British characters to tidy everything up at the end:
This is a big book in both page count and substance, and it achieves its effect through our emotional responses to characters. Overall, a wonderfully engaging and politically-nuanced approach to a shameful period in British history.
The story itself is expansive, often harrowing (and rightly so), and unflinching in its depictions of torture and violence. The characterisation is strong throughout and well-rounded: it's especially refreshing to have a 'hero' in Johnny Seymour who is nervous and edgy, who doesn't always behave in a way in which he wishes he could, who puts personal interest above political urgency - and who never forgives himself for his own moral failure. Making a fictional stand against the model of the plucky British (or should that be English?) super-hero, all integrity, bravery, nobility and honour of so much C19th-early C20th imperial fiction is itself a telling and thoughtful move on the part of McGhie.
The depiction of the 'Pipeline', a series of British camps set up to interrogate, 'rehabilitate' and, ultimately, dispose of rebels against British rule is done with an attention to detail that they deserve, with chilling reminders of the way they duplicate, in miniature, both the Nazi labour and death camps, and Stalin's gulag.
There are so many lovely touches throughout the book that are a testament to its political sophistication and sensitivity: the understanding of the difference between a man with black skin (a description) and being a 'black man' (an identity); the attentiveness to war crimes against women; even the ability to step back and not allow the white British characters to tidy everything up at the end:
'But in the end this is a matter that we Kenyans have to deal with ourselves. The help is appreciated - do not get me wrong, it really is. Personally you've helped me so much already just by listening and I am so grateful. But this is our struggle. No-one can take upon themselves what is not theirs to take. We began this and we will end it. Now go, Sam, go and say goodbye to a wonderful man.'
This is a big book in both page count and substance, and it achieves its effect through our emotional responses to characters. Overall, a wonderfully engaging and politically-nuanced approach to a shameful period in British history.
November 27, 2017
Uhuru!
John McGhie’s novel is a thriller set in Kenya over two time periods, the 1950s Mau Mau rebellion and the British counter insurgency measures (now there’s a euphemism!) and in 2008 when there were calls for compensation from the UK by Kenyans affected by such measures.
I think McGhie’s novel is constructed as a vehicle through which the reading public might become more aware of what happened back in the 1950s, activities defended by words such as peace-keeping, stability, empire, but which start with black-propaganda and end with concentration camps, torture, rape and murder.
The author draws explicit parallels between British re-education and Nazi extermination camps. The parallel stories are sufficiently involving to hold the reader’s interest and, I suppose, to off-set the mounting horror of the methods used for crushing the rebellion.
John McGhie’s novel is a thriller set in Kenya over two time periods, the 1950s Mau Mau rebellion and the British counter insurgency measures (now there’s a euphemism!) and in 2008 when there were calls for compensation from the UK by Kenyans affected by such measures.
I think McGhie’s novel is constructed as a vehicle through which the reading public might become more aware of what happened back in the 1950s, activities defended by words such as peace-keeping, stability, empire, but which start with black-propaganda and end with concentration camps, torture, rape and murder.
The author draws explicit parallels between British re-education and Nazi extermination camps. The parallel stories are sufficiently involving to hold the reader’s interest and, I suppose, to off-set the mounting horror of the methods used for crushing the rebellion.
January 18, 2020
This book kept me turning pages well into the night. The violence depicted is shocking but the story is a powerful historical narrative that taught me a whole lot about Kenya's struggle for independence, the imperfections of people, and the wish to persevere in making things right.
August 8, 2017
White Highlands by John McGhie, published by Little, Brown 2017
Publishers Little Brown are promoting this debut novel as a “literary thriller”. Thrillers, literary or otherwise, only work if they are credible and ideally the reader should be swept along on an authentic cast of characters in a convincing range of locations without being tripped up by a dubious detail or false note.
John McGhie has done the research on the history of the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya as well as the skills of an investigative journalist and he aims to engage us with the pace and tension of an imagined plot whilst exposing the very grim realities of British colonial rule. It’s a laudable project in the tradition of Graham Greene’s “entertainments” - - serious fiction which merits the same publishers’ designation of “literary thriller”.
There is nothing to gain from another summary of White Highlands but it is worth explaining my * * ranking. Disappointing. The problem lies in McGhie’s decision to drive the contemporary plot through the agency of a young woman’s (Samantha Seymour) discovery of her family’s past involvement in Mau Mau. The return journey format has been used to good effective in dealing with modern Africa, such as in Gillian Slovo’s Red Dust, and White Highlands might have succeeded as well had we been convinced by the main character and her interactions.
The failure is two fold. Thrillers entail the simple device of jeopardy and Samantha is duly drawn into peril despite an early (and unlikely) lack of interest in “a case about which she knew nothing and cared less”. For jeopardy to work we need to identify with the person in peril and we don’t: this a young woman in her twenties who mistakes arrogance for feisty and treats pretty much everyone with churlish disdain. Her supposedly rebellious nature (which we’re ‘told’ about rather than ‘shown’) stretches no further than casual sex with a migrant worker, a snatched cigarette at home, and a sending-down offence involving a Bullingdon-like jape with a statue and a bra. It doesn’t sound like a woman.
In short, her back-story and characterization give us nothing to work with when she finally gets into serious jeopardy, and to compound our lack of concern, we also have to tolerate her transformation (notwithstanding a belated reference to “all those self-defence classes”) from a Sloan ranger to a hardened karate expert, plus the implausibly cool presence of mind to reflect (after escaping an attack from two grown men in the dark at a murder scene) as to how “absurd” it was when “she was a lawyer not a detective, sleuthing around a very foreign town.” We can only agree whole-heartedly and not mind in the least what happens to her which, given the stakes and personnel involved, is in any case minimal. She barely breaks a fingernail.
It’s a shame feeling like this after reading something with such laudable intent.
Publishers Little Brown are promoting this debut novel as a “literary thriller”. Thrillers, literary or otherwise, only work if they are credible and ideally the reader should be swept along on an authentic cast of characters in a convincing range of locations without being tripped up by a dubious detail or false note.
John McGhie has done the research on the history of the Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya as well as the skills of an investigative journalist and he aims to engage us with the pace and tension of an imagined plot whilst exposing the very grim realities of British colonial rule. It’s a laudable project in the tradition of Graham Greene’s “entertainments” - - serious fiction which merits the same publishers’ designation of “literary thriller”.
There is nothing to gain from another summary of White Highlands but it is worth explaining my * * ranking. Disappointing. The problem lies in McGhie’s decision to drive the contemporary plot through the agency of a young woman’s (Samantha Seymour) discovery of her family’s past involvement in Mau Mau. The return journey format has been used to good effective in dealing with modern Africa, such as in Gillian Slovo’s Red Dust, and White Highlands might have succeeded as well had we been convinced by the main character and her interactions.
The failure is two fold. Thrillers entail the simple device of jeopardy and Samantha is duly drawn into peril despite an early (and unlikely) lack of interest in “a case about which she knew nothing and cared less”. For jeopardy to work we need to identify with the person in peril and we don’t: this a young woman in her twenties who mistakes arrogance for feisty and treats pretty much everyone with churlish disdain. Her supposedly rebellious nature (which we’re ‘told’ about rather than ‘shown’) stretches no further than casual sex with a migrant worker, a snatched cigarette at home, and a sending-down offence involving a Bullingdon-like jape with a statue and a bra. It doesn’t sound like a woman.
In short, her back-story and characterization give us nothing to work with when she finally gets into serious jeopardy, and to compound our lack of concern, we also have to tolerate her transformation (notwithstanding a belated reference to “all those self-defence classes”) from a Sloan ranger to a hardened karate expert, plus the implausibly cool presence of mind to reflect (after escaping an attack from two grown men in the dark at a murder scene) as to how “absurd” it was when “she was a lawyer not a detective, sleuthing around a very foreign town.” We can only agree whole-heartedly and not mind in the least what happens to her which, given the stakes and personnel involved, is in any case minimal. She barely breaks a fingernail.
It’s a shame feeling like this after reading something with such laudable intent.
October 12, 2017
A really well written, gripping and vivid novel about a dark period in both Britain and Kenya's recent history. Those Brits doing it again - undermining the locals and destroying their way of life, with the locals fighting back. Author John McGhie is a journalist, having worked for the BBC and Observer newspaper, C4 News, and others. Primarily an investigative journalist he has also turned his hand to film making, his major achievement being a prize winning film he made about historical war crimes committed during the Mau Mau conflict in Kenya during 1952-1963. This would appear to be the background to his novel, the focus being on the Mau Mau reparation case, seeking an apology and financial reparations from the British government to Kenyans still alive from those times. Britain saying sorry to any nation is a gob smacking event, this settlement unprecedented when it finally happened in 2013.
This novel then, takes place in both the present and the past. It is 2008 and Samantha Seymour is one of the team of lawyers sent from London to talk to the claimants about their cases and their allegations against the colonial government of the time. She knows her grandparents lived in Kenya during this time, met and married there, and that there was something very murky about her grandfather's involvement in the Mau Mau rebellion that no one ever talked about it. She goes to Kenya with an open and curious mind, seeking to learn more about her family history.
Back in 1952, her grandfather Johnny Seymour has recently arrived in Nairobi, still traumatised by what he saw in the camps at the end of WWII in Europe. He has since become a journalist/photographer, working with his old army boss Grogan Littlejohn, for the Government Information Office. He doesn't really like the culture of the British colonial that he is forced to live and work in, preferring the wide open spaces of Kenya, but he quickly becomes smitten with Tansy, a nurse who has lived most of her life in Kenya, and would appear to be Grogan's girlfriend. But it is his work as a photographer that exposes him to the underbelly of the great British colonial might, and before long he is fighting his own battle to stay alive, record what is going on around him, and save the lives of both Tansy and their Kenyan driver.
Great characters, both flawed and honourable, terrific story development and a most satisfying conclusion. Excellent book.
This novel then, takes place in both the present and the past. It is 2008 and Samantha Seymour is one of the team of lawyers sent from London to talk to the claimants about their cases and their allegations against the colonial government of the time. She knows her grandparents lived in Kenya during this time, met and married there, and that there was something very murky about her grandfather's involvement in the Mau Mau rebellion that no one ever talked about it. She goes to Kenya with an open and curious mind, seeking to learn more about her family history.
Back in 1952, her grandfather Johnny Seymour has recently arrived in Nairobi, still traumatised by what he saw in the camps at the end of WWII in Europe. He has since become a journalist/photographer, working with his old army boss Grogan Littlejohn, for the Government Information Office. He doesn't really like the culture of the British colonial that he is forced to live and work in, preferring the wide open spaces of Kenya, but he quickly becomes smitten with Tansy, a nurse who has lived most of her life in Kenya, and would appear to be Grogan's girlfriend. But it is his work as a photographer that exposes him to the underbelly of the great British colonial might, and before long he is fighting his own battle to stay alive, record what is going on around him, and save the lives of both Tansy and their Kenyan driver.
Great characters, both flawed and honourable, terrific story development and a most satisfying conclusion. Excellent book.
November 25, 2019
White Highlands by John McGhie. This is a beautifully written and well researched novel set in both the present day and Kenya in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising.
Sam, a young barrister, is sent to Kenya as part of a legal mission investigating compensation claims for brutalities committed by the colonialists during ’The Emergency’. At the same time, she hopes to find out more about her mysterious grandfather Johnny Seymour. The parallell narrative is about Johnny and the role he played in the atrocious cruelties against the Kenyans that took place in the 1950s.
White Highlands is a thriller that describes horrible events during a dark time in British colonial history, but it is also a story about love, compassion and friendship. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book was sent to me by Amazon for an independent review.
Sam, a young barrister, is sent to Kenya as part of a legal mission investigating compensation claims for brutalities committed by the colonialists during ’The Emergency’. At the same time, she hopes to find out more about her mysterious grandfather Johnny Seymour. The parallell narrative is about Johnny and the role he played in the atrocious cruelties against the Kenyans that took place in the 1950s.
White Highlands is a thriller that describes horrible events during a dark time in British colonial history, but it is also a story about love, compassion and friendship. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book was sent to me by Amazon for an independent review.
December 1, 2019
I really enjoy this book. It was a story that went back to Mau Mau days then forward to the present day working out the sequence of events of Sam's grandparents and their involvement in the Mau Mau uprising. It was well-paced and kept me guessing until the end.
It was also quite horrifying what the British did to suspected Mau Mau terrorists, I knew about the Mau Mau but had absolutely no idea how vile the Brits were at that time.
I thought the characters were well created and all were believable. The main characters were not perfect which made them all the more interesting.
My copy was a proof copy but I didn't find any glaring errors so either the author or editors have done a good job.
It was also quite horrifying what the British did to suspected Mau Mau terrorists, I knew about the Mau Mau but had absolutely no idea how vile the Brits were at that time.
I thought the characters were well created and all were believable. The main characters were not perfect which made them all the more interesting.
My copy was a proof copy but I didn't find any glaring errors so either the author or editors have done a good job.
March 25, 2020
The topic for our book club this month was Africa, so my choice of "White Highlands" was pretty random, although the description of the book being about the Mau Mau troubles in the 50's piqued my interest. When I learned that McGhie was a journalist who had unique knowledge of that time and place, I was further encouraged to make this book my choice. And I'm very glad I did. I couldn't put this book down! Flipping back between the 50's and 2008 using the exploits of a grandmother - granddaughter duo provided the fictional backdrop to paint the picture of the troubles in Kenya, then and now. This genre is completely new to me, but thanks to John McGhie, it's one that I will continue to explore.
January 19, 2021
This is a good story focused on the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya 1952-53 and an English lawyer on an official investigation in 2008, a granddaughter of the photographer and his eventual wife who struggle against British tactics like torture and concentration camps, a story which has been hidden from her. It is a little too long and the love stories a bit Mills and Boonish, but the atmosphere is well-rendered, particularly the landscape and the privilege of the British, as well as the brutality of many in official capacities.
September 8, 2019
I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and didn't write my thoughts down at the time, which I usually do. Despite having read the synopsis available on line, I can barely remember the story!
That says it all I guess. I remember it as being OK.... but I seriously can remember nothing about it.
Guess that's a 'No' then :(
That says it all I guess. I remember it as being OK.... but I seriously can remember nothing about it.
Guess that's a 'No' then :(
March 24, 2018
Drama of a sort set in two time zones in Kenya, on the eve of independence and on the eve of the post election massacres the mid-2000's - ended up skipping through the paragraphs as the plot got thinner and thinner.
February 4, 2020
I loved this book- nothing like anything I would usually read- but was sent through a book club, so gave it a go. It had me hooked instantly, and I finished it in less than a week.
A part of history I knew nothing about, so not only a great fictional book, I learnt a lot too.
A part of history I knew nothing about, so not only a great fictional book, I learnt a lot too.
July 19, 2021
At times I found the content a bit graphic. Sometimes humans can be so inhuman. John McGhie says in his authors note that news articles have a short life span and become tomorrow’s chip paper, while a novel has greater longevity. This story has reinforced the feelings at go with historical events
September 20, 2021
An engrossing book about the Mau Mau crisis in Kenya in the 1950s; violence, corruption and a live story..(but why did Johnny and Tansy only go to Mombasa where they could be tracked down instead of practically anywhere else?)
May 25, 2018
Dual time frames, no plot of substance, boring in parts where I had to skip and skim.
September 23, 2018
It started a bit slow but then became intriguing. Well written and a good story.
June 17, 2019
I wish this site allowed half points. I’m giving this book a 3.5 rating.
July 27, 2021
Exceptional novel based on facts of the fight against the Mau Mau and the atrocities committed by the Brits but also some Kenyans.
August 15, 2019
A love story and a thriller set against the backdrop of the Mau Mau insurrection in 1950’s Kenya. The author pulls no punches in his condemnation of colonial rule and the brutality of the authorities suppression of the ‘rebellion’.
April 21, 2018
Fantastic read! I was really disappointed to finish it.
Gripping reading - in fact, I had to force myself to put it down in the evenings!
Gripping reading - in fact, I had to force myself to put it down in the evenings!
May 29, 2019
Reasonably engaging.. starts slowly but draws you in. As an avid follower of colonial history I'm partial to the subject. May not attract someone not aware of the Mau Mau movement.
September 6, 2020
At school we’re taught how the British Empire was built - it’s wealth and glory days - but we aren’t taught about the struggle for freedom within the colonies, or how the Empire was dismantled. Britain didn’t give up its Empire easily and the lengths it went to to try and cling to its power are all too regularly glossed over.
A who-dunnit-meets-romance-meets-period-literature, McGhie has created an entirely fictional group of characters to tell his story. But the events they live through, the political backdrop and the abhorrent violence and behaviour described during the de-colonising period in Kenya is very real, and frankly shocking.
The novel spans two time frames - 1950s Kenya and 2008 when many Kenyans were seeking reparations for treatment during the de-colonising period.
McGhie is incredibly knowledgable - working as a journalist during the reparations and creating a BBC documentary on this subject. He wrote this novel in hope of memorialising the events and reaching a wider audience.
Following the BLM explosion in May, I think this would be an excellent read for anyone British looking to understand our own history and treatment of those who aren’t white. Although the main protagonists are white, McGhie makes it impossible to hide from the brutal reality of our treatment of the colonies - and how it was one rule for ‘us’ and another rule for ‘them’.
As McGhie himself asks: if we don’t know our own history, how can we ensure we don’t repeat the same mistakes?
I urge you to read this book.
It’s not perfect (there were a few moments of frustration with the narrative) but I devoured it and am left wondering whether this or Levy’s Small Island (see previous post for review or Goodreads) is my favourite read of 2020 so far.
In my review on Instagram (@amiecaitlin) I’ve included an extract from the book (I promise no spoilers), as well as an extract from McGhie’s own Post Script , which I think sum up the book really well.
A who-dunnit-meets-romance-meets-period-literature, McGhie has created an entirely fictional group of characters to tell his story. But the events they live through, the political backdrop and the abhorrent violence and behaviour described during the de-colonising period in Kenya is very real, and frankly shocking.
The novel spans two time frames - 1950s Kenya and 2008 when many Kenyans were seeking reparations for treatment during the de-colonising period.
McGhie is incredibly knowledgable - working as a journalist during the reparations and creating a BBC documentary on this subject. He wrote this novel in hope of memorialising the events and reaching a wider audience.
Following the BLM explosion in May, I think this would be an excellent read for anyone British looking to understand our own history and treatment of those who aren’t white. Although the main protagonists are white, McGhie makes it impossible to hide from the brutal reality of our treatment of the colonies - and how it was one rule for ‘us’ and another rule for ‘them’.
As McGhie himself asks: if we don’t know our own history, how can we ensure we don’t repeat the same mistakes?
I urge you to read this book.
It’s not perfect (there were a few moments of frustration with the narrative) but I devoured it and am left wondering whether this or Levy’s Small Island (see previous post for review or Goodreads) is my favourite read of 2020 so far.
In my review on Instagram (@amiecaitlin) I’ve included an extract from the book (I promise no spoilers), as well as an extract from McGhie’s own Post Script , which I think sum up the book really well.
September 5, 2020
Read my review in English on Whichbook.net: https://www.whichbook.net/book/12362/...
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews