Nonfiction Book Reviews
Page One of TwoAfrica by John Reader
Knopf, April 1998.Hardcover, 800 pages.
ISBN: 0679409793.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Africa is a well-written comprehensive
tome on the life and nature of Africa.
The book addresses numerous topics about
African people, geography and wildlife including:
animal and plant life, the Nile river, the slave
trades, the diamond minds, genocide, civil wars,
Zulu myths, disease, harvests and independence.
The book also contains beautiful photographs
of the land and people and a bibliography
that details the large number of books referenced
to complete this work.
Africa is a pleasure to read, full of unique stories and perspectives on all aspects of the continent. Any lover of geography, biology or history won't want to miss this book. Author John Reader, a London writer and photojournalist who has lived and traveled Africa for many years, knows and loves his subject and that passion shows in this excellent work.
Marriage Shock by Dalma Heyn
Dell Publishing Co., April 1998.Trade paperback, 198 pages.
ISBN: 0385324022.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
In the 1990s, two thirds of all divorces are instigated
by women. Depression rates of married woman
triple that of single women and are five times
that of married men. Author Dalma Heyn set out to
find out why. What she found was that most women are
not unhappy in their marriages for the traditional reasons, but
because of the unrealistic expectations that our society
puts on women once they become married. Heyn argues that
in our society
the entire burden of nurturing the relationship
itself falls on the woman. Furthermore, the concept of a "good wife"
forces women into becoming something other than what they are,
by denying their own wants and desires. Heyn explores the concept of "marriage
shock", the realization of this fact which strikes woman after
the whirl of courtship and the honeymoon are over and
discusses ways to overcome the consequences.
An incisive and controversial work, Marriage Shock
has an interesting premise that will resonate with
many women -- both single and married alike.
Non-Fiction Reviews
Page Two
Return to the June 1998 issue of The IWJ.
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