The White Masai [Hardcover]

Holiday infatuations are not unusual during visits into far away and "exotic" lands. Unlike their usually temporary nature, this dramatic love story between a Swiss business woman and a Masai Warrior leads the heroine-author on a voyage of discovery that the reader is privileged to share. Corinne Hoffmann's personal memoir of the years with the "love of her life", is an absorbing read - at some stages the account is almost too amazing to be true.

Hoffmann writes with honesty and passion about her love for the man, the people she lives with and the land she discovers and increasingly calls "home". Having fallen for the beautiful Lketinga, during a holiday, Corinne decides to move to Kenya to start her life there with him. She sells her belongings back home and embarks on the adventure of her life. With great frankness she exposes her own naivety when searching for "her man" who had moved away from the tourist coast, finally tracking him down to his settlement in northern Kenya. There, her lack of awareness of local customs create more than one drama. She doesn't give up, however, and learns to adjust as she goes. They even get married in traditional ceremony. To the amazement of the locals, she is wearing a white wedding dress. Her description of the life among the Masai in this remote part of Kenya is full of insights into the traditional life that they lead. Warmth of feelings and even tenderness develop between her and "Mama" in particular, but also with the closer family and neighbours. Her love to Lketinga does not diminish despite the numerous misunderstandings they are facing, due to the limited language abilities and their vastly different backgrounds.

The local diet, malaria, hepatitis and her pregnancy all pose threats to her health and even survival. Several times she returns to Switzerland to recoup her strength, but as soon as she leaves Kenya, she yearns to be back. To contribute to the basic economic stability of the community, Corinne buys a car that allows her to ferry supplies from the nearest town to the settlement. She even opens a local shop which creates benefits for the family but also results in additional tensions between her business approach and her husband's tradition and customs. It is hard for her to accept that the cultural differences between her and her husband may jeopardize her continued stay in Kenya. In the end she has to draw the painful consequences. Using 'a "needed vacation" with her daughter as a ruse, she does not to return to Kenya for many years.

With "The White Masai" Hoffmann has written a beautiful and moving portrait of a life committed to bridging vast cultural differences. Her style is very direct, almost intimate. The reader can visualize her life among the Masai, sense her emotional strength and the upheavals that accompany the love between her and "her Masai". Hoffmann returned to Kenya with her daughter after 14 years to meet up with her Kenyan family. [Friederike Knabe

While not the best written book, this true story is quite simply fascinating: a European woman falls in love with a Masai in Kenya, and moves to his village. The movie that was made from the book is also terrific.

An amazing story and adventure of love across an Euro/African cultural divide. Thoroughly engaging read and the characters demand empathy for their honest and provocative relationship. Loved the book.