A review of The Bolter by Frances Osbourne, Alfred Knopf, New York, 2008.
Since I read and review matters Kenyan. Following is a brief
take on this book. It is a biography of Idina Sackville (written interestingly
enough by her great granddaughter who knew nothing of her infamous ancestor
until she (the author) was an adult). Idina
was a sybarite who scandalized London and Kenyan society by her licentious
behavior. She was married five times and seduced countless men. She was the focal point of Kenya’s Happy
Valley set in the 1920s and 30s and contributed enormously to its sordid reputation
of infidelity, promiscuous sex, drugs, and alcohol.
The biography is a long list of Idina’s loves and liaisons,
of her fallings-out with her family, her abandonment of her children, her
travels, and her search for love and companionship. The recitation was too much
for me. It was boring, especially the long descriptions of London society in
the pre-and-post WWI era.
The Kenyan part was a bit more interesting on account of the
setting and Idina’s efforts to farm in the highlands near Gilgil, but that too
all revolved around the woman herself – her loves and entertainments. This section provides some insight to what
life was like for the rich group who settled in Kenya after WWI but evokes
little sympathy for them. It culminated
in 1941 when Joss Hay, the Earl of Erroll and Idina’s long divorced 3rd
husband, was murdered just outside of Nairobi.
His death resurrected all the notoriety about the Happy Valley crowd - the infidelities and the intrigues.
Idina attended the trial of Delves Broughton who was charged with the murder,
but he was acquitted.
In sum Idina’s life was one of searching and, despite the
money available to her, of always coming up short. It is a sad tale.
