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Tears of the Maasi by Frank Coates
Frank Coates was born in Melbourne, Australia.. He worked for many years as a telecommunications engineer in Australia then moved to Africa and spent many years there. When Tears of the Maasai made the best-seller's list in 2004, Coates retired from the telecommunications industry to write full time. He now lives in Sydney's Northern Beaches area.
Frank Coates. Tears of The Maasai. Read by David Tredinnick. 15 CDs 18 hrs. Bolinda Audio. 2010. 978-1-7421-4642-3. Library Edition.
Feeling the need to get away from the memories of his involvement in a horrible incident in Australia, Jack Morgan accepts a position working for the UN in Kenya. His contact in Nairobi for the formulation of various development projects is Malaika, a beautiful young Maasai woman. Against all tradition she has left her family and village and pursued her education and a career while trying to forget the traumas of her adolescence. In conversations with Jack, Malaika also imparts information about the Maasai traditions and how her people had been able to maintain their isolation through the years. She also explains to Jack the oppression of women and attempts to explain the rationalization for the circumcision of women. Romance develops as they work closely together to try to help her people. The interesting, romantic, and adventure-filled plot incorporates background social issues, history and politics as the background.
Coates uses excerpts from Peabody's Guide to Africa 5th edition to inform the reader/listener specifically about the various areas of east Africa. Skillfully woven into the plot are a portrait of government corruption and a network of poaching that has proven to be extremely profitable for high-ranking politicians. Also serving as background to the plot is information about the widespread incidence of AIDS and descriptions of other diseases for which adequate care is not provided.
Coates has a true literary talent for capturing the vastness and grandeur that is Africa. Theatre, film, television and radio actor David Tredinnick's reading is outstanding as he fully voices the numerous characters, both Australian and African. Tredennick's voice also captures extremely well the tension of the political situations. A pattern of drumbeats begins and end each disk.
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Young Adult/Children's
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