The Dust Diaries

When Owen Sheers discovers a book in his father's study he stumbles upon the life of an obscure relative: Arthur Cripps, lyric poet and maverick missionary to Southern Rhodesia. Compelled by the description of Cripps' extraordinary life in Africa, Sheers embarks on a journey through contemporary Zimbabwe and into the secrets of the past in an attempt to better understand his ancestor's devotion to the country and its people and the dramatic, often bloody, differences that echo across the years. Arriving in Africa at the turn of the last century, Cripps leaves behind him a past he hopes to extinguish in the crucible of his self-sacrificial missionary work. After he establishes his own mission at Maronda Mashanu, Southern Rhodesia, the neighbouring European community soon grow suspicious of Cripps' unorthodox methods, and conflict with the British South Africa Company ensues - especially over the perennially contentious issue of land reform.