House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe

by Christina Lamb

Blue mountains, golden fields, gin and tonics on the terrace--once it had seemed the most idyllic place on earth. But by August 2002, Marondera, in eastern Zimbabwe, had been turned into a bloody battleground, the center of a violent campaign. One bright morning, Nigel Hough, one of the few remaining white farmers, received the news he had been dreading. A crowd of war veterans was at his gates, demanding he hand over his homestead. The mob started a fire and dragged him to an outhouse. To his shock, the leader of the invaders was his family’s much-loved nanny Aqui. “Get out or we’ll kill you,” she said. “There is no place for whites in this country.”
            Christina Lamb uncovered the astonishing saga she tells in House of Stone while traveling back and forth to report clandestinely on Zimbabwe. Her powerful narrative traces the history of the brutal civil war, independence, and the Mugabe years, all through the lives of two people on opposing sides. Although born within a few miles of each other, their experience growing up could not have been more different. While Nigel played cricket and piloted his own plane, Aqui grew up in a mud hut, sleeping on the floor with her brothers and sisters. “They had cars and went shopping in South Africa. We didn’t have food and had to walk an hour each way to fetch water,” she remembers.
            House of Stone (“dzimba dza mabwe” or “Zimbabwe” in Shona) is based on a remarkable series of interviews with this white farmer and black nanny, set against the backdrop of the last British colony to become independent, and the descent into madness of Robert Mugabe, one of Africa’s most respected nationalist leaders.

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction, Zimbabwe, History, Memoir, Politics, War

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 5, 2007

About the author

Christina Lamb OBE is one of Britain's leading foreign correspondents. She has been named Foreign Correspondent of the Year five times in the British Press Awards and What the Papers Say Awards and in 2007 was winner of the Prix Bayeux Calvados - one of the world's most prestigious prizes for war correspondents, for her reporting from Afghanistan.

She has won numerous other awards starting with Young Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards for her coverage of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1988; was part of the News Reporter of the year for BCCI; and won the Foreign Press Association award for reporting on Zimbabwean teachers forced into prostitution, and Amnesty International award for the plight of street children in Rio.

She was named by Grazia magazine as one of their Icons of the Decade and by She magazine as one of Britain's Most Inspirational Women. The ASHA foundation chose her as one of their inspirational women worldwide www.asha-foundation.org with her portrait featuring in a special exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery. Her portrait has also been in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. She was awarded the OBE in the 2013.

Reviews

[J.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the way Lamb alternates
chapters between the point of view of a black woman working as a maid and nanny on a white-owned farm and her boss, a white man who grew up in Zimbabwe and whose farm was taken over by some of the young thugs who have flourished under Mugabe’s rule in the last 15 years. Though I felt Lamb was too kind in her assessment of white rule during the 100+ years that Rhodesians clung to power, she managed to bring out the excesses of the liberation soldiers during the war and demonstrate Mugabe’s decline into dictatorship (which did not come out of nowhere, as many people seem to think). I wrote a master’s thesis in African history on Zimbabwe’s liberation war, on the propaganda of both sides, and argued vociferously that it was easy to see the seeds of Mugabe’s later obsessions and madness as early as 1983, if one cared to look. (Most of the world didn’t care to look. They weren’t concerned about the tens of thousands of blacks who were murdered in the early 80s and whose bodies were dumped into pits outside of Bulawayo…but they sure have paid attention to the less than 25 white farmers who were murdered in the last ten years….The truth is, the western world doesn’t care when blacks are killing blacks. We just care when blacks kill whites. I hate to sound so cynical but history bears this out time and time again.) I thought the story could have been more successful if she’d paid more attention to narrative structure, but I did like how she weaved so much of Zimbabwe’s history into this thoroughly modern story.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I am trying to learn all I can before returning to Zimbabwe, I chose this as one of my titles. I was surprised to learn that the severity of the racial discord in Zimbabwe continued until so recently, 2005. I was there in 2009 and quite ignorant as to the country's history. I knew about the killings of white farmers during the 80's fight for liberation but had not realized it was still going on. This book tells the stories of Aqui, a black African woman, and Nigel Hough and family, a white farmer. Life has not been easy for either of them. Aqui grew up highly intelligent at a time when there were no opportunities for her. Nigel found salvation in Zimbabwe and then damnation. There are no winners. When the Black Africans gained their independence they were understandably elated. Mugabe was their hero. How could they believe that he would pillage his own people and destroy the country? Under British colonial rule, the white minority ran their farms efficiently and made their country prosper. But, at what cost? The black majority was not running the government, and they, naturally, resented white rule. After the war, whites resented the blacks for taking what they had built without any compensation. A lose, lose situation all around. It isn't until the end of the book that Aqui's actions give a hint as to the possibility of some form of resolution.

[Kimmo Sinivuori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though Mugabe's reign of terror has pretty much fallen of the radar of us in the West, the tragedy for Zimbabwe and its people is still very much there. Christina Lamb is one of the best foreign correspondents of our time and this is a truly moving account of the tragic fall that Zimbabwe took from the cliff under the misrule of Mugabe and his henchmen (who became very rich of course). Essential reading for everyone interested in the post-colonial history of the African continent.

[W · Rating 2 out of 5]

This bored me.Agree with another reviewer,"too much history,not enough story".

[Jingga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fairly good reading experience, for those who wanted to know a story about the history of Zimbabwe, from both the black and white African perspective.

[Philippa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 2009 whilst in South Africa having travelled down the east coast from Kenya - I didn't enter Zimbabwe because of the dire situation that is, shockingly, still present. My parents lived in then-called Rhodesia until 1978 but left when it was evident lives were about to change, and whilst I've heard many things about the country I was shocked to read these perspectives and just how awful things had become. This book shows there are two sides to every story, unfortunately both as horrific as the other.

[Tove R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most devastating recent historical events. Mugabe let the “war veterans” take over and destroy the farms owned by white. This true story is written from the point of view of a white man‘s and a black woman‘s perspectives. A great book that explains a lot about what happened in Zim during these days. Highly recommended for everyone! Well written.

[Maya Natarajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scintillating read.. two life stories - that of a white farmer and a maid who works for him in Zimbabwe..I love the way the author has presented their conflicting emotions in their own words. The history of Zimbabwe and how one man, Robert Mugabe( who died this month, 6th sep 2019, at the ripe old age of 95) changed the course of a once prosperous nation to a complete mess. Couldn’t put this book down..

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Parts of this book had been assigned in a high school history class, and I hung onto it thinking someday I would get to the rest of it. Having just finished it 12 years later, it doesn't really seem worth the wait.

This is a deeply flawed book. Lamb alternates between the perspectives of a white (colonizer) farmer and their Black Zimbabwean nanny. The alternating chapters detailing their very different upbringings are interspersed with a mostly uncited telling of modern Zimbabwean politics. Lamb glosses over a lot of just horrific racism perpetuated by white residents, and seemed to try to contrast it as equally bad to the anti-white rhetoric and actions under Mugabe, which just didn't feel right. Although it tries to tell "two sides of a story," I think it is still very Eurocentric. The book abruptly ends without ever articulating a clear perspective on Zimbabwe's colonial/post-colonial history - which - I don't think Lamb would necessarily be the right author to take on, it just underscores how inadequate this book is at conveying the context of the story.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nigel Hough (Huff) and his family grew up as white farmers in Rhodesia. As an adult and following independence (now Zimbabwe), Nigel had an opportunity to purchase a farm and begin to raise his own family. Aqui (Ack-we) was living with the family and working for them. She had been politically active in the war for independence and initially was taken by Mugabe’s promises of returning property to the Blacks. When Nigel’s farm was ultimately seized, he was shocked to see Aqui among those rioting. Christina Lamb reports this in essentially alternating chapters recounting each side of the events and the terror of Mugabe’s reign.
I've read a few other books about the battle for independence and subsequent deterioration of the country under Mugabe's rule but they've all been from the White perspective. This is the first that I've read which shows both sides of the story. The alternating chapters is a good format because it shows the parallel events coming forward.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am married to a Rhodesian so I wanted to see what this book had to say versus the stories I already knew. It was an eye opener and gave me much more background information on the situation that I ever had before.

For anyone who wants to know what really happened in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) then you need to read this book. I now totally understand how the farms were taken over, the reasons behind it and how it went from one of the richest places on the globe there dollar worth more than the pound at one stage to where they sadly are today.

I urge you to read it - Thanks to Christina Lamb and the many times she put her own life in peril to write and gather information for this I now understand the situation a whole lot better sadly.

[Chloe Lockhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book as it was a topic that I didn't know much about but was keen to understand.

I did find though that this book was difficult to follow and felt that there was probably a lot of the story I missed because I was losing track.

I also sometimes found that sometimes the story went too much into the details of the politics when what I was really looking for was a story of someone's life during this time.

I still recommend reading it because it is very interesting, you may just need to keep pushing at times.

[Kahla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an eye opening story about the troubles in Zimbabwe written by a British journalist that has made several trips there over the past 20 years. She tells the story through the parallel perspectives of a white "Rhodesian" and native Zimbabwean over the span of their lifetimes. I found the story very interesting, but be prepared for a bit of a history lessons as she rattles on about facts of all of the political struggles of the country.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book but I found that I was feeling rather depressed after I finished. I spent much of my childhood in Zimbabwe and specifically in Mutare (then Umtali) so I knew all the places I read about.

Zimbabwe was a beautiful country and its people some of the most cheerful and friendly I ever met. It is extremely saddening to me to read what has become of it now.

[Jeannine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much a history epistel, not enough story

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

really didn't enjoy this. was very hard reading the white man's reminiscences of being an awful racist pig in his early years.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was difficult to follow at times, due to my own lack of background knowledge on the subject. Many of the terms are unfamiliar, so it is hard to keep track of the names of people, places, objects, ideas that are all similar sounding and unfamiliar. It is good information though hard to stomach some of the ways in which man is cruel to his own countrymen. Aqui, the housekeeper, has an intriguing story and one that makes her braver than most people I will ever know. She is an interesting character presented with many choices in life not all of which I can understand. Her story and the story of many in this book is one dealing with a culture, history, and economic structure I do not really understand totally as I am not from a place anything like the one spoken of in these pages. It gave a realistic picture of how many things have gotten out of control when people are not taken care of, given food, work, a little bit of money, and of course the safety of rule and order. In a society where might makes right, so much can happen. The contrasting of the 2 characters back and forth works for this story. You can see how each one perceives the others both right and wrong based on their experiences. The description of Zimbabwe makes anyone like me want to venture over to the lush landscape until you hear how impoverished the government has made its people. It really gave me good insight into how a woman feels as well as the choices she is forced to make. It shows how dangerous an uneducated population can be. The insight into the culture of the clans in Africa was interesting. It makes it easier to understand their stance and decisions. Their thought processes are made with the present in mind and little is taken into account for the future. Corruption is rampant and elections are rigged. Many do not see a way out and are only trying to survive the day. One persons vision of a community does not make a community and living separate and isolated lives in a country where you are used to never being alone would seem strange.

[Ian Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! After decades of watching and reading casually about Zimbabwe from the time of Ian Smith, I had an accumulation of confused ideas about what was going on there. Turns out that, according to Lamb, I had more or less the right idea but this book makes it real by delving into the histories and relationships of two strong and determined people. It would be interesting to get an update from Lamb as this was written in 2006.

From what I recall about the way UDI was discussed in the small very conservative community in which I was reared, big issues were raised for pakeha by the colonial situation in Rhodesia (and also in Kenya) and local reactions were very varied. That was uncomfortable at the time. Parallel but very different journeys were to be made by pakeha and by white Rhodesians. Pakeha had barely begun to perceive that there were issues to be faced while Rhodesians had crashed into theirs and reacted with deep ignorance. In the end, Zimbabwe's colonial history is much harsher than NZ/Aotearoa's and where Zimbabwe hit the rocks in a big way, the situation in NZ/Aotearoa continues to improve. I think.

[Trudy Jaskela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story of the downward slide of a beautiful prosperous Rhodesia into a barren poor Zimbabwe ruled by a man (Robert Mugabe) who initially was good and cared about his peoples then slid into madness and cruelty. The cruelty he ordered and condoned is something I could not even conceive.
Two principal characters in the book are Nigel, a white man born into privilege with attendance at private schools, his own airplane, extensive travel, and such and Aqui a black woman born into poverty who lived in a mud hut, was raped at age 11yrs by a clergyman, then went on the be married to a man who abused then deserted her.

Book makes one feel grateful for a safe, secure, privileged life in Canada. I could have never survived this life in Zimbabwe, been born either white or black.

[Bernice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well detailed story of life in Zimbabwe as seen through the eyes of Nigel Hough, a farmer in Marondera and Aquinata.

Christine Lamb, a foreign correspondent, illegally enters Zimbabwe and details the outcome of Mugabe’s rule and how it impacted on the lives of Nigel and Aqi, and the history of Zimbabwe during these years.

In his first speech to the nation in 1980 Robert Mugabe declared ‘there is no intention of on our part to victimise the minority. We will ensure there is a place for everyone in this country. I urge you, whether you are black or white, to join me in a new pledge to forget our grim past, forgive others and forget, join hands in a new amity and together as Zimbabweans trample upon racism’. It wasn’t long before the reality of Mugabe’s rule became clear.

[Claudia Majetich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written. Lots of personal details which make it come alive. Didn't like the end too much with its focus on the takeover of the white family's farm, and the loyal servant who saved their possessions. Lots of interesting insights into how the white folks came up with reasons to look down on the Africans.

The takeaway from this book is that the white folks should have been left in control because they provided jobs and a health economy. The only problem was a rapacious Mugabe and his cronies. Only a brief mention of how the austerity program that IMF/World Bank demanded in exchange for loans exacerbates economic problems.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the book! I like the balance the author strikes in this tale of two characters. It’s interesting how their stories are somewhat relatable to a lot of people. Being a young black man who was born after the bush war / chimurenga liberation war or independence, I’m interested in knowing the history of the people in my home country from different perspectives. This book gave me an insight into the lives of both blacks and whites. I recommend it to anyone who is open minded like myself.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

tells the true story of war in Zimbabwe pre/during/post independence from two perspectives, one white and one black. a non fiction book written like a novel by a journalist based on interviews with the two characters. its a great way to learn more about the history of Zimbabwe’s independence and the Mugabe years, especially interesting as someone interested in post-conflict state governance.

the characters reflect a lot, which makes it easier to read. parts of it a harsh and descriptive, but that’s expected for a book about war.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry until about the halfway point, probably because it’s a third party non-fiction book, and the author is careful not to add anything extra. The second half goes much more quickly, probably because it’s talking about more recent events and the protagonists remember it all with more emotion.
In any case, I learned a lot. It’s the first book of its kind that I’ve read with a non-white viewpoint.

[Shalini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Lamb for the first time at the literary festival and since then her name appeared to crop up in various contexts until it piqued my curiosity. She is an impressive journalist. This is a very good account of how colonialism followed by a despotic leader reduced a beautiful, rich nation and its people to poverty. It is the recent history of Zimbabwe, dzimba-dza-mabwe, the grand house of stone.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging book. Everyone who is saying there is too much history and not enough story needs to step back and re-read this. The history is essential to understand the story of the families and why things happened. Otherwise this would be a confusing and hateful read. I definitely would recommend this!

[Vicki Klemm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book club read: thanks! Learned a lot about Zimbabwe and how the people that lived there thought. Shocking what Mugabe did to totally destroy his country. The greed of men and the corruption of power. What a shame. Sounded like a stunning place at one time, hopefully it can become again someday.

[Jonathan Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, I am a big fan of Christina Lamb, after reading The Africa House. If you have an interest in Africa you will find both books absorbing, they give a real feeling of being part of the life’s of the people involved.

[Emma Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true story. This book didn't grip me as such, but did keep me intetested. I learnt a lot about Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Mugabe that I didn't know, whilst also learning about the intertwining stories of a black woman and white man on different sides of a war. Well worth a read.

[Vannesa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perfect book for Rhodesians. It will make you see the pain you inflicted as well as the pain you imagine was inflicted on you.
Lamb did poor and lazy research of precolonial present-day Zimbabwe. Less bias from her side would have put the book in a more accurate context.