A love story set in beautiful Africa
The Dawn Birds (Austin Macauley, £8.99) is the new book by 83-year-old Alwyn Dow from Barnham.
“I may have been sensing my mortality as I lay in St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester last year following a fall, Indeed had I been a good Catholic and how many times had I allowed convenience to overrule my conscience?
“This deserved consideration, not as an autobiography but as a story of human interest.
“I was attended to by a nurse from Kenya, who, amongst others, helped me recover both physically and emotionally.
“I noted that she always carried her prayer book and that reminded me of my time in Africa during the Mau
Mau crisis when it was customary to carry a Bible in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other.
“She appears as Fatuma in the book in tragic circumstances. Concurrently and with plenty of time on my hands I re-read The Thorn Birds which, though set in Australia, addressed the thorny issue of the boundaries of a physical love between clergy and others in the Catholic church..
“By adding features from my own days at Cardinal Newman Catholic college at Birmingham University I began to construct an idea for this story namely that of a Jesuit priest Luke who falls in love with Elda Whitby, a young student, as Gordon, another student, looks on.
After many years they all end up in Africa and each tells the story of their relationship in turn. I am fairly sure that my readers will want to know what happened next.
“In addition to my inspiration from my hospital bed I must acknowledge the crucial role that my mum played in formulating my ideas of right and wrong and these are all too evident in the book as conscience battles with convenience.
“This was emphasised by the motto of my own schooldays at Brentwood Essex with the motto of Virtue, Learning and Manners. Above all the book is a love story set in beautiful Africa amidst the Flamingos of Lake Nakuru in the Kenyan Rift Valley and beyond.
"Unfortunately this is also a time of wars of independence...”