The Hunters by Kat Gordon is a sweeping, coming-of-age story set against the richly atmospheric backdrop of colonial Kenya in the 1920s.

‘Equally at home evoking the landscapes of east Africa and those of the flawed, capricious human heart, Kat Gordon’s The Hunters is a seductive, troubling journey into Britain’s colonial past’ – Anna Hope, author of Wake and The Ballroom

‘Just the thing to read while sipping a cocktail or two’ – iPaper

‘A gloriously dark tale, packed with heat and glamour’ – Liza Klaussmann

The Hunters is a complex portrayal of first love and family loyalty and a passionate reimagining of the Happy Valley set in all their glory and notoriety.

Listen to an excerpt:

 

About the book

Theo Miller is 14 years old, bright and ambitious, when he steps off the train into the simmering heat and uproar of 1920s Nairobi. Neither he, nor his earnest younger sister Maud, is prepared for the turbulent mix of joy and pain their new life in Kenya will bring.

Their father is Director of Kenyan Railways, a role it is assumed Theo will inherit. But when he meets enchanting American heiress Sylvie de Cro and her charismatic, reckless companion, Freddie Hamilton, his aspirations turn in an instant.

Sylvie and Freddie’s charm is magnetic and Theo is welcomed into the heart of their inner circle: rich, glamourous expatriates, infamous for their hedonistic lifestyles. Yet behind their intoxicating allure lies a more powerful cocktail of lust, betrayal, deceit and violence that he realises he cannot avoid. As dark clouds gather over Kenya’s future and his own, he must find a way back to his family to Maud before it is too late.

About the author

Kat Gordon read English at Somerville College, Oxford and worked at Time Out briefly after graduating. She has travelled extensively in East Africa where she also worked as a teacher and an HIV counsellor. She received a distinction for her MA in creative writing from Royal Holloway and her debut, The Artificial Anatomy of Parks, was published in 2015. Kat has lived in Budapest and Reykjavik and is currently settled in London with her partner and young son.

 

Categories Africa Fiction International

Tags Jonathan Ball Publishers Kat Gordon Kenya New books New releases The Hunters