does love at first sight exist??read this and see what you think (The White Masai - Corinne Hofmann)

Member Name: feex1982x

Product:	The White Masai - Corinne Hofmann
Date:	06/06/09 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: you might just learn something,everyday's a school day!

Disadvantages: not sure its all what it sounds and if thats true its more tragic than romantic

The White Masai is the riviting story of a woman that found love in one of the most bizarre and unexpected places a person could fall in love and with a man she hadn't even spoken too. Corrine Hofmann tells the tale of her romance and marriage to Lketinga, the sandbur warrior with whom she fell in love with at first sight aboard the Likoni ferry with her then boyfriend, whilst on holiday in Mombasa.

This was in the 1980's and with setting just a single glance at this man decided that this was the love of her life and he was worth giving up everything, including her shop in Switzerland to be with him. Unfortunately the course of true love never does run smoothly especially when the cultures are so hugely different and they speak different languages, Hofmann being Swiss and Lketinga speaking Maa the tribal language used by samburu and masai tribes alike. For her love of this man she leaves everything she knows to find him in the vain hope that he feels the same, after 3 month and eventually finding 'her darling', they are soon married and living in his extreme culture soon starts to create a rocky road ahead. In samburu marriages there is no affection, a wife may not even touch her husbands face let alone kiss on the lips, and they must always eat apart, all the simple things that us westerners take for granted as part of a relationship, as did Hofmann.

However, brave and determined she accepted these differences to be with 'her darling' and did her best to fit into his and his families way of life, living in manyattas (mobile huts made of wood and cow dung) and narrowly escaping death after severe bouts of malaria and extreme malnourishment. After being married and having their daughter Napirai, the relationship turned sour when Lketinga became increasingly jealous and accusing her of having other boyfriends and in fits of rage claiming that his daughter was not even his. Fuelling these unjust accusations was his increasing love of mirraa (an amphetamine type plant that is chewed) and beer, it became too much and Hofmann hatched a plan to escape. Leaving the country was not simple when in Africa the child is the property of the father, but eventually after 4 years in Africa Hofmann arrives back home to Switzerland and has written two books since, Back from Africa and Reunion in Barsaloi.


I have read this book twice now and I have to say its a favourite of mine, I truly felt that she brings you right in and by the end you almost feel like you were there living with them and you know each and every member of the family like your own. Its extraordinary writing and the book is packed with information as to the samburu way of life, which is still very much private. She shockingly tells about witnessing a female circumcision, a rite of passage for the girls as young as 12 that are married to sometimes much older men as their 2nd or 3rd wives. For women within this tribe they are worth less than cattle and know as much, and in my opinion a 'mzungu'(white) westerner would find this almost impossible to live with, since in the western world we are all treated as equals. The women of Barsaloi are property of the men and that is all, they live and breathe to serve them and to produce many many children for their husbands. The culture is full of rituals and acts of hospitality which are in fact quite endearing and in that way I can see how she could have been taken in and felt a false sense of security.

Throughout the story I found myself asking 'what would I have done in that situation' and after I put it down I would often find my thoughts returning to Hofmann and itching to know what in fact she actually did do. So I finished the book both times in a record time of two days! I did find parts of the book confusing and frustrating, sat reading the book you can clearly see a disaster waiting to happen and it takes alot to try not to yell out to her to stop being so stupid and naive, but I think that's the charm of Hofmann, she didn't have the advantage of hindsight and was in way over her head but too blinded by love for her warrior. The dangers she puts herself in are unbelievable and this is where I myself got frustrated, she would call Lketinga 'crazy' after he accused her of being with another man. That's fair enough we think? But Hofmann lived in a culture where a woman never ever raises her voice to a man, in some villages violence towards women within the samburu is even encouraged. All quite hair raising reading as a woman myself but she makes it very easy to empathise with her and her determination to be with the man she loved is admirable if not completely insane.

I have read other reviews and people say they are not sure what to make of it all and that she was stupid and naive and that makes the book hard to take seriously, and I can see their point. But after reading this book a second time something else crossed my mind and I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong but I am beginning to see this not for the love affair it was meant to be, at least not on Lketinga's part. I find it hard to believe that a man as a samburu warrior was willing to change the way he was and has known of men to behave and what is expected of a wife through hundreds of years of tradition, to take on a white woman that has a voice and opinions. Unless he knew full well that being white and being on holiday in a plush hotel, she probably had money and would make him rich. Hofmann never learnt his Maa language, and so I wonder if perhaps it wasn't all as innocent as it seems within his family to take on this opinionated, head strong, sickly white woman? Maybe the love affair was sadly all on her part? Either way its a great book but since thinking this is probably the case I have lost a certain feeling that us girlies get hearing about love stories and all that mushy stuff, still an absolute must read though even as an insight to this fascinating group of people.

Summary: an excellent page turner with lots of information packed in to boot