Dancing with the Monkeys

Forced to leave England due to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, Richmond and Agnes Aitken move to the colonies in Africa. There they forge a life as coffee farmers near Taveta, a town on the border between British and German East Africa. After the untimely death of Rosemary-Jane, their illegitimate daughter, Agnes feels acutely alone and arranges to get pregnant again within a loveless marriage. Their son, James, grows up only knowing Africa and befriends Karl, a German/English boy he meets at school. But when James falls in love with Miriam, one of the local servant girls, life becomes complicated. Not only is their relationship across the colour bar, but it is also an ‘upstairs/downstairs’ affair. Things are further complicated when the First World War spills over into Africa and he is duty-bound to join up. A story of friendship, forbidden love and cultural clashes.