I am fascinated by this period of history and as some of the characters in this novel were based on real characters it increased my desire to read it. I found the descriptions in this book very vivid and they transported me to Kenya.
I struggled to engage with some of the characters in this novel and also found the relationship between Sylvia and Theo difficult to understand. I think that this is why I did not enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped.
Thank you to net galley for my copy of this novel

From the title, I had suspected that this book would be about a woman and her life, but it was so much more.
I loved this book and enjoyed the viewpoint from a male perspective.
Having been on safari in Africa, the wording conjured up all the sights and smells of towns and plains.
The history is relevant, and I enjoyed delving into the lives of all the characters.

I won’t say I disliked this book but, it didn’t wow me as much as i’d hoped.
It was an interesting and descriptive story and made me think of hot nights with long cold glasses of iced tea and tigers roaring in the bush.
I found the story a little it slow although it did keep me reading until the end but, left me unsatisfied with I don’t particularly like when I’ve finished a novel.
I would read more of this authors books in the future, as long as it had more excitement.

In 1925 Theo Miller and his family leave Edinburgh for Nairobi where his father has been appointed Director of the railway. Young and very impressionable Theo falls under the spell of Sylvie, an Unsuitable Woman.

This is a very readable, well researched and well written novel. While the characters are not particularly likable, you are drawn into the decadence of the lifestyle and amoral behavior exhibited and find yourself caught up in the story. I really enjoyed, many thanks.

This was a fascinating story of life in Kenya before the Kikuyu uprising. Some of the aristocracy from England trying to maintain a dying lifestyle in a different country. Some good characters and storylines interweaving throughout. Very sad in parts and the native Kenyans never got back the life they wanted, just the Mau Mau and a dictatorship instead

This is a well told stoy of the scandalous goings on of the Happy Valley set. It centres around a naive boy getting seduced in to their circle. To make things more interesting, politics are involved as well as the rights and wrongs of Empire. Atmospheric and worth reading.

I loved this book! A marvellously evocative story of some truly awful people and their appalling behaviour in 20's/30's Kenya. Seen through the eyes of Theo, firstly as an impressionable young boy, and later as a young man, this is a gripping tale, with some memorable characters. A great read.

A coming of age story set in Kenya in the affluent age between the two world wars. It deals with the set of ex pats who lived in what was known as the happy valley and had morals that were not in keeping with the time. The period of aristocratic decline.
At this time two children called Theo and Maud arrive in Kenya with their parents.
Theo a young teenager is immediately drawn to two of the members of the happy set Freddie and Sylvie who against his parents wishes associates with them.
Believing he is in love with Sylvie he does not realise the consequences this relationship will have on his and his families life.
Great read lovers of Dinah Jefferies will love it.

I enjoyed this book the story of Theo and his sister Maud who move to Kenya with their parents in the 1920's.
Theo meets up with and becomes involved with Sylvie and her friends.
Sylvie lures him into a world of drink and debauchery bringing him to become involved in actions he regrets.
Is Sylvie the unsuitable woman in the story or could another woman be unsuitable in the eyes of the locals?

I loved this book. From the first chapter through to the last the author kept me enthralled and wanting to keep reading. I have a feeling with a book by chapter 2/3 that I’ll either like it or not and this book didn’t disappoint. Set in East Africa Kenya. a country I know a little about also kept me reading. Thank you and well done. The characters at first seem unbelievable but knowing some of the history of that time period means you know the author has done her homework. Some of the characters were born too early and would have so fitted in today. A great read.

Theo moves to Kenya with his father, an engineer, who was instrumental in pioneering the railway in the colonial world. Now a director, he is to establish a rail network in Kenya in the late 1920s. Theo adores his younger sister, but has a difficult, bordering on an abusive relationship with his mother, who is much younger than his father.

The colonial establishment in Africa is well described in this story, as is the political unrest and the rise of right-wing nationalism, in the mid to late 1930s. The main focus of the story against this tumultuous setting of privilege and political unrest is the 'Happy Valley set.'

They are rather like the spoilt, immoral group of people, in 'The Great Gatsby', only in Africa, rather than America. After the horrors of the 'Great War', and the financial crisis of the late 1920s. this hedonist group, who disdain society's rules, and live for the moment, have an obvious appeal for a young boy on the cusp of adulthood. His work absorbed father, and seemingly uncaring mother, allow Theo to the freedom to be influenced by this group, which has a tragic effect on his teenage and future life,

The story is rich in historical details and full of vivid imagery, both in terms of the African setting and the clash of colonialism and nationalism. It is complex and absorbing and the characters resonate. Most are emotionally damaged and have dark natures, but even so, you are invested and want to know what happens to them.

Maud is the most courageous of all the characters and is a true pioneer, willing to break through barriers even at the risk of her own comfort and safety.

The story portrays the fear, prejudice and unrest in Africa, during the 1930s well. It is not easy to read in parts, because it jars with 21st-century beliefs and norms, but if you can accept this, it is a worthwhile read.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction- Borough Press via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Reading this book was the equivalent of receiving the best gift ever ; a book you had not realised you wanted and no idea how much pleasure it would give. The readers senses are invaded by the sounds, smells, politics , fierce climate and atmosphere of Kenya in the 1920's. and 1930's. Initially we are introduced to Theo a fourteen year old incredibly handsome youth on the cusp of manhood travelling to a new home in Kenya with his beloved younger sister Maud, older father and much younger mother. Immediately tension exists when upon arrival the children are by accident, introduced to the decedent Freddie and beautiful Sylvie. Members of a risqué group of rich and influential hedonists, for Theo it is love at first sight. Nothing in his past or difficult schooling has prepared him for the lifelong adventure he is about to undertake whilst growing to manhood . Aware he must follow family rules or run the gauntlet of family displeasure, he makes the life altering decision to join this amoral group in there intoxicatingly surreal environment. This story gives us an insight into what for many was at that time, appropriate treatment of the black Africans by a minority charged with running the country. Nothing can prepare us for the trials and tribulations Theo faces or is exposed too. A mixture of Out of Africa, Karen Blixens life story, White Mischief and the knowledgeable and deeply researched history of this area by Kat Gordon. If descriptions of the country and environment are a delight, the storyline is a riveting read involving a group of entitled individuals slowly coming to terms with the damage caused to themselves and others by overindulgence of drink, sex, drugs and disregard for the restraints of decent behaviour. The conclusion was both shockingly unexpected and totally appropriate for a time and country struggling to come to terms with change. A five star read of the highest calibre.

An Unsuitable Woman by Kat Gordon.

The scorching heat, the champagne and the seductive decadence of the lifestyle of white settlers in Nairobi forms the backdrop to this ‘coming of age’ story set in nineteen-twenties Kenya. The richly detailed descriptions of the African landscape, flora and fauna are bursting with colour, sound and scent.
Fourteen-year old Theo Miller and his younger sister, Maud move to Nairobi with their family, where their father is a Director of the Kenyan Railways. Theo is entranced by the dangerous allure of American heiress Sylvie and her lover, Freddie, glamorous members of the ‘party’ set who live by different rules from normal people. Theo is petted and spoiled by his new friends, who teach him the ways of their world.
The story is set over several years and we see Theo and Maud mature. There is a prevailing and increasing air of unease that, underneath the privileged lives of his new friends, there is the scent of something very rotten. Theo is unable to shake off his infatuation for Sylvie and Freddie. Maude crosses the acceptable line in her interaction with the native Kenyans and pays a heavy price.
The story was compulsive reading and I was fascinated to discover that some of the characters were based upon real people. I wondered if this was the reason the ending didn’t feel as dynamic to me as the rest of the story.
I received a complimentary e-book of An Unsuitable Woman from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story really gave a picture of what life was like in Kenya during this period between the wars. It was told by Theo, starting at the age of nearly 15 and continuing through various times in his life. He is a handsome boy and he forms an infatuation about an older woman, Sylvia. Theo gets drawn into their hedonistic set and meets a variety of interesting characters. His sister, Maud, is more wary and has a caring attitude towards the natives. This story also includes the political climate of the times and the way the old regime wanted to cling on to their lifestyle. There are a few surprises in this book that I didn’t see coming. An excellent read. I enjoyed the author’s notes at the end. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I chose this book because it was set in colonial Kenya and having lived as an expat in Africa, I was interested. The story is told by Theo, 15 years old, fresh out from Scotland with his family to Kenya in the 1930s.
He gets joined into the Happy Valley society set and the book starts promising as Theo becomes fascinated with them. The book captures this really well.
As Theo grows older, we are introduced to his sister Maud, who sees Kenya very differently to the white Colonials. I felt that her story could have been explored better..
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It brought to life the antics of the "Happy Valley" set in Kenya between the wars, but didn't just touch on the excesses but also brought to light through the sister of the main character, Maud, some of the social issues of the time which don't often come to light. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this period in Kenya.
As a piece of writing the book flows and is easy to read, though paying attention will not come amiss.

An enjoyable fictionalisation of ‘The Bolter’ and the rest of Kenya’s Happy Valley set in the 1920s and 30s.

Fascinating story of white settlers in Kenya between the two World Wars seen through the eyes of Theo ,who arrives with his parents and younger sister Maud at the impressionable age of 14. His father is the director of the new railway that is being built so he has uprooted his family from Scotland to bring them out to Kenya to live.Theo , full of hormones and eager to become an adult is drawn into the decadent, and now notorious ,world of the Happy Valley set when he is befriended by Freddie (an over privileged aristocrat) and Sylvie -the unsuitable woman. There are times when, as a reader, you cringe at the treatment of the 'natives' by the white settlers but the attention to historical detail and its' vivid descriptions of attitudes then are what bring this novel to life. The darkening political situation in both Britain and how it impacts on the ex pats lives are fascinating . Maud ,Theo's sister has a contrasting experience of life to Theo as she is much more sympathetic and friendly to the Kenyans than the white settlers, something that will impact greatly on them both by the end of the book.
An entertaining, and at times dark, read of another time that in the present climat almost seems to have parallels with current life

I had forgotten how badly we had treated the natives in Africa . This story shows two very different lifestyles and how shallow some people can be.