"Perhaps she was right, and he really was a brainless idiot. Maybe she should have stayed with that "other guy" she was always going on about. The "true love" she continually swore she should have married. Some fellow, happily living his life back in England, blissfully unaware of what a narrow escape he'd had."

The Scorpion House is a memoir of an African childhood. Told through the eyes of Fay, a young girl growing up in Rhodesia in the 1940s and '50s, she recounts the chaos surrounding her dysfunctional family with humour and honesty.

Originally from a privileged background of wealth and love, her parents impulsively leave England to establish a life in Africa. Soon after arriving, disorder erupts as Fay's father becomes a reckless and irresponsible alcoholic. While her neglectful mother gradually becomes more and more emotionally and physically abusive. Living through a childhood of adventure and unpredictability, this gripping tale will shock, amuse and inspire.

"For anyone with a heart"

"Honest, straightforward and tender"

"It's not often a book can make you both laugh and cry - but this one does"