Return to the Wild: A Novel

by James Hendry

Following on from his bestselling novels A Year in the Wild and Back to the Bush, James Hendry returns to the setting of Sasekile Private Game Reserve for another tale that takes the reader behind the scenes with the MacNaughton brothers, Angus and Hugh.

It is four and a half years since Angus’s last year in the wild when he was newly appointed to the position of head ranger at Sasekile. Much has happened in the interim.

In Return to the Wild there is high drama, much hilarity and close encounters with wildlife, fire and human incompetence as Angus unexpectedly returns to Sasekile to take on the training of a motley group of would-be game rangers with his usual stark but eloquent honesty. Alongside him, Hugh manages the lodge and its colourful staff with a varying degree of competence as events lurch from mishap to potential catastrophe.

Whether you are a fan of the MacNaughtons’ previous misadventures or a reader new to their story, Return to the Wild is a highly amusing, engaging and heartfelt read.

454 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2022

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars, absolutely hilarious, laugh out loud moments as well as heart stopping ones. This is apparently the third book in a series by James Hendry but the first for me. Extremely fun read!

[Bruce Home · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. The caracters are all so familiar in their stereotypes and there were so many laugh out loud moments. The way he weaves in some of the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the bush was brilliant.
Will be reading the others in the series.

[Chantele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just finished the last book I the series and yet again it does not disappoint!
The stories continue and are riotous! A fantastic last book to end the series. Well done James Hendry 🔥

[Karen Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Return to the wild
James Hendry
Pan Macmillan
Review: Karen Watkins

Return to the Wild

James Hendry

Pan Macmillan Review: Karen Watkins
This fabulous tongue-in-cheek pageturner is a jol of a book that is sure to have you laughing out loud. It’s basically the story of Angus MacNaughton. This middle-aged man is miserably living and working in Cape Town, teaching music to a “cretinous child” at a massively pretentious private college. The story then rewinds four years earlier to when he became the head ranger at Sasekile Private Game Reserve near Kruger. This ended with an oil mogul, a girlfriend and a killer hangover. A warning letter from the college’s HR department did not dampen his spirits as he was off for a weekend in the Drakensberg to attend the wedding of his brother Hugh (String Bean). During this time he is offered a job to take on the training of a bunch of game rangers at a new lodge that his brother is to manage at Sasekile. Angus jumps at the opportunity, returns to Cape Town to collect his measly possessions and walks away from his teaching and arrive at the familiar and yet modernised lodge. The story then takes readers on an adventurous journey lurching from one calamity to another. While the setting and characters are fictitious, everything is richly described, believable and amusing. Apart from the motley bunch of new ranger recruits, there are the lodge’s colourful staff who come with varying degrees of competence. Hendry is an ex-game ranger, lodge manager and researcher and his detailed descriptions of walks, game drives and close encounters with wildlife in the bush are often nail-bitingly dramatic. The story is also tinged with pathos as Angus grieves the loss of girlfriend Anna who had died mysteriously two years previously. From bush law to a fire and building challenge, Hendry takes us to the predictable final catastrophe. I highly recommend this amusing, engaging and heartfelt read and will search out the MacNaughtons’ previous misadventures, A Year in the Wild and Back to the Bush.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in the series of adventures of 2 brothers, Hugh and Angus McNaughton, at Sasekile Game Reserve in South Africa. You don’t have to have read the previous books to enjoy this one, but I was much more invested in the story and the characters having done so. It is not a memoir, but it certainly reads like one, and this is the best of the 3 books. See my review of the previous book, Back to the Wild, to learn more about them. I’m reviewing, not retelling the story here; you can find the summary anywhere online. Return to the Wild is mostly hilarious, and I often found myself laughing out loud. It also has its more serious, dramatic moments as well. For a real treat, listen to the Audible version of the book, which is wonderfully narrated by the author, and the different accents and otherwise difficult to pronounce words will bring the story to life. If you like to read stories about people in interesting places, have an interest in South Africa, are interested in what could go on behind the scenes at a safari camp, or just want a fun, interesting read, this book is for you. I thought about the McNaughton brothers, especially Angus, long after I had finished, and I’m hoping the author will add another book to this trio.

[Lakota Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant installation

I love this trilogy, and this 3rd installment is full of laughter.
The descriptions are so vivid I can smell the bush while sitting here in England, and it makes me miss South Africa terribly.
As someone who qualified as a ranger, this is a brilliant tale

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun journey

A wonderful read with fun character progression. The characters and scenarios Angus finds himself in are truly frightening, hilarious, and to me, relatable. I look forward to the next book in this series.

[Linda J. Polley]

This book and James Hendry's previous in this series are some of the best fiction novels I've ever read! I highy recommend them. I especially enjoyed the audio veersions from Audible. Awesome work James Hendry! Keep em coming!

[Jessica Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad there's no more books in those series! So great and hysterical. I suggest if you are not from South Africa, you go with the audiobooks so that you get all the pronunciations right... And the accents are great!

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would always read ‘terms and conditions’ if James Hendry wrote them. A glorious novel that makes you grateful, if you are South African, to have grown up in this confusingly frustrating wonderful country.

[Judy Tomkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hilarious instalment in the life of Angus MacNaughton and his escapades.

[Barbara Mayers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hilarious and very enjoyable visit to the bush. I hope there are more to come.

[Loren Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, hilarious as always.

[Andrew Paget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and silly and nice to be transported to the lowveld in the evenings here in rainy london.

[Kristy Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do enjoy these books, hoping that Mr Hendry is going to write more about Angus and Hugh! Fun read, again- not always PC- but can totally see some of these characters when out on safari!!