Echoes From a Distant Land
Page 52
I have taken poetic licence in attributing words and actions to all historical characters in the interests of creating an entertaining story.
In this novel I have given to the character of Jomo Kenyatta certain attitudes towards the Mau Mau. Many of his public utterances condemned the Mau Mau, but historians disagree on his real involvement. The viewpoint I ascribe to him in this book is a product of my imagination and is not intended to imply my views on his role.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Echoes from a Distant Land owes its creation to a balcony suite aboard P&O’s Pacific Sun, a bottle of champagne, and the very lovely Ms Wendy Fairweather — although not in that order of importance. This is to thank Wendy for her assistance in developing the outline of this story.
Writing a novel is like walking a long and lonely road where we authors sometimes wonder why we started the journey at all. Wendy’s creativity, enthusiasm, and her constant encouragement during the writing of this book made that journey far more enjoyable than it might have been and the story, in my opinion at least, considerably enriched.
I would also like to acknowledge the following people and to thank them for their valuable and expert assistance during the writing of Echoes from a Distant Land:
Ms Charlotte Smith, author and the curator of the Darnell Collection (www.darnellcollection.com), for her expert assistance in matters of period dress.
Ms Wangari Maathai for her recollections of a Kikuyu childhood in her memoir, Unbowed.
Mr Ian Johnson, formerly an employee of East African Airways, for his assistance with aircraft types and schedules.
Mr Garry Keown for his enthusiastic and expert support on firearms of the period.
Finally, I’d like to thank my agent and friend, Selwa Anthony, whose support, advice and encouragement are always selflessly given; my editors Nicola O’Shea, Anna Valdinger, Kate Burnitt and Kate O’Donnell; and my friend James Hudson, whose opinions and advice on writing popular fiction I greatly respect.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank Coates was born in Melbourne and, after graduating as a professional engineer, worked for many years as a telecommunications specialist in Australia and overseas. As a UN technical specialist in Nairobi, Kenya, he travelled extensively throughout the eastern and southern parts of Africa. During his time there Frank developed a passion for the history and culture of East Africa, which inspired his first novel, Tears of the Maasai, published in 2004, after which he became a full-time writer. Echoes from a Distant Land is his seventh novel.
OTHER BOOKS BY FRANK COATES
Tears of the Maasai
Beyond Mombasa
In Search of Africa
Roar of the Lion
The Last Maasai Warrior
Softly Calls the Serengeti
COPYRIGHT
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in 2012
This edition published in 2012
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Frank Coates 2012
The right of Frank Coates to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Coates, Frank.
Echoes from a distant land / Frank Coates.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 9230 0 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978 0 7304 9772 1 (epub)
Twins — Fiction.
Kenya — Fiction.
A823.4
Cover design by Jane Waterhouse, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover image by shutterstock.com
Original map by Margaret Hastie, adapted by HarperCollinsPublishers