Longing for Darkness: Kamante’s Tales from Out of Africa

If you’ve read Out of Africa, you will remember Kamante as the sick boy who arrived at the coffee farm of Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) and became her beloved chef. This book, compiled by renowned wildlife photographer Peter Beard with Kamante over a period of 12 years, combines the latter’s watercolours, his retelling of the fables Dinesen taught at the Karen Coffee School, and his memories of the events documented in Out of Africa, translated from Swahili and handwritten by Kamante’s sons. The book ends with an Afterword by Jacqueline Onassis and her correspondence with Kamante. It also features photographs by Dinesen, her brother Thomas, her great friend Denys Finch-Hatton, and Beard himself, who credits Dinesen with helping him construct his most famous book, The End of the Game. An utterly moving account, from an important, overlooked perspective.