Wildflower
An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa
-
-
4.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
In the tradition of the bestsellers WHITE MISCHIEF and MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, Mark Seal tells the story of the captivating life and shocking death of world-renowned naturalist Joan Root.
From her passion for animals and her storybook love affair, to her hard-fought crusade to save Kenya's beautiful Lake Naivasha, WILDFLOWER is Joan Root's gripping life story, a stunning and moving tale featuring a remarkable modern-day heroine.
With a cast of characters as wild, wondrous and unpredictable as Africa itself, WILDFLOWER is a real-life adventure tale set in the world's fast-disappearing wilderness. Rife with personal revelation, intrigue, corruption and murder, readers will remember Joan Root's extraordinary journey long after they turn the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Vanity Fair contributing editor Seal expands on his August 2006 article for the magazine in this sweeping and atmospheric biography of the conservationist and wildlife filmmaker Joan Root, who was brutally murdered in her home on Lake Naivasha, Kenya, a region she was trying to save from poachers and environmental ruin. Intrigued by Root's suspicious death and cinematic life with husband and nature documentarian Alan Root, Seal mines Joan's diaries and writings to offer a lush love story set in the heyday of British colonialism in Nairobi, where amid the decadence and dilettantism, Alan fell in love with the lovely Joan Thorpe, an "Ingrid Bergman lookalike" and daughter of an English adventurer. Their partnership produced award-winning documentaries (their 1978 film on termite mounds, Mysterious Castles of Clay, was narrated by Orson Welles and nominated for an Oscar) and television specials. Their inability to have children was a source of constant sorrow for the couple, and despite the romance of their joint pursuits, their marriage unraveled. Seal's effort is a seamless story redolent with adventure, passion and heartbreak; its beauty nearly eclipses the tragedy of Root's untimely and unsolved death in 2006. Photos.
