Review: Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness

Title: Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness

Author: Alexandra Fuller
Genre/Age: Non-fiction, memoir, adult
Publication: 2011
Source: For review, TLC

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is the second memoir by English born Alexandra Fuller, who grew up in Africa. This second book chronicles the life of her mother, Nicola Fuller of Central Africa. It discusses her childhood in Scotland and Africa, and her adulthood, enduring war in Africa.

I'm really sad to say, this wasn't the book for me. I thought I would enjoy it more since I am a huge fan of memoirs, and have a good friend from Africa (Sudan), but it just didn't click with me.

I have her first memoir, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, but have not had the chance to read it yet. I still plan on reading it though, and hope I like it better than this one. I have high hopes for it because her writing is eloquent and witty, which is one part of the story that I did enjoy.

The reason I didn't click with the story that well was because it was extremely historical based, and I am not into history at all. The fact that it was the history of some places I had never even heard of made it quite hard for me to connect and very confusing as well. There was also an over abundance of "characters" if you will, (I hesitate to say characters in non-fiction, but what else can I say?) and that left me feeling confused too, not to mention frustrated.

I did enjoy some of the anecdotes... the ones that were more focused on her mom and the family rather than history, and found some parts to be pretty funny too, such as Alexandra and her sisters being dressed up in crazy costumes for a party. Her mother was really quirky and her antics did make me smile and laugh... I just wish the story would have been more focused on her instead of the places she lived. She was interesting and funny enough that, to me, it didn't really matter where she lived, I just would have liked to hear her story, not the story of the places she occupied. I would have loved to hear more funny things about the crazy (but in a good way) Nicola Fuller of Central Africa (love that name).

Gotta love the cover though, right? It's her mother, and her first best friend, Stephen, the chimpanzee! Fun fact: I have been obsessed with monkeys since I was a little kid. In kindergarten, I learned about Koko the signing gorilla, so my mom bought me a stuffed animal of Koko and I have been smitten ever since... with all monkeys, but Koko has a special place in my heart. :)

Anyways, I believe that fans of both memoirs and history will really enjoy this book. Just because my rating is low does not mean it was bad. It really was a well written book and quite funny (those parts of which I enjoyed a lot), but as a whole, it just wasn't for me. I hope you'll give it a try if it piques your interest!

My Rating: 2/5