Interview with Peter Davies - Author of "Scatterlings of Africa"
By Juanita Watson
Interview with Peter Davies
author of Scatterlings of Africa
Literally Publishing Limited (2006)
ISBN 9780955440908
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (4/07)
Today, Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views talks with Peter Davies, author of the action/adventure novel "Scatterlings of Africa."
Born and raised in Africa, Peter Davies served as a territorial soldier in Rhodesia from 1963 to 1975. He saw action, and took part in captures and interrogation. This gave him insight into terrorist minds, many of which were successfully encouraged to 'turn' and fight alongside Rhodesia's soldiers against their former comrades. Davies wrote his novel, "Scatterlings of Africa," using his own recollections of how the war was fought, and how it affected Rhodesia and its people.
Juanita: Welcome to Reader Views Peter, and thanks for the opportunity to talk with you today about your new novel "Scatterlings of Africa." Your story takes place in 60's-70's Rhodesia. Would you paint a picture of this area for readers, and tell us what was happening politically in the region?
Peter: Well, thank you for inviting me, Juanita. As you know; after almost fifteen years of war, Rhodesia fell under the grip of Marxist dictator Mugabe who changed its name to Zimbabwe in 1980. But Scatterlings of Africa takes you back to December 1972 in Rhodesia's Zambezi Valley. At that time, the Valley was full of animals that were wild and free - it was what was known as a 'protected hunting area', not one of the relatively tame 'game reserves' that most people see. I had many encounters with lions, elephants, buffalo and other big game in addition to all the usual smaller stuff like wart hogs, antelope, etc. in this beautiful but wild part of the Valley. Scorpions, tsetse fly and other nasty insects abounded and there was abundant bird life.
Sadly, a civil war was getting underway, and the Zambezi Valley; Rhodesia's north eastern border with Zambia and Mozambique, was the route insurgents used to gain access to the more populated areas of Rhodesia up on the highveld.
In 1965, Rhodesia's government had declared independence from the United Kingdom. Radical black African politicians were not satisfied with the slow progress being made by the mainly white Rhodesian government towards universal franchise. Their demand was 'one-man-one-vote'.
Rhodesians had watched this happen in all the other former colonies of Africa and saw that once that happened, future elections - if they took place at all - were rigged in favour of the incumbent African government. When they discovered that they were worse off than they had been under colonial rule, black African electorates were unable to change their black African governments. It had turned out to be a case of one-man-one-vote... once. Mass murder, corruption and economic disaster became the norm for independent Africa.
Back in Rhodesia, the frustrated radical black politicians soon became exiles and set up external military wings; a bit like radical Muslims and Al Qaeda today. These Rhodesian terrorist organizations were funded by the West; yet trained and armed by the Soviet Union and Communist China. Like the modern fanatics of Islam around the world today, terrorist insurgents set about trying to indoctrinate the peaceful black peasant populations of Rhodesia. Those who did not join the 'cause' were intimidated, tortured and sometimes killed. That is why I - along with many others - was a civilian soldier and hunting terrorists in the Zambezi Valley during the 1960s and 1970s. My book is a novel, and all the characters are fictional; but the events are based on what I saw and experienced during those years of war.
Juanita: What was your history with Rhodesia at this time?
Peter: I was born there. When I was a child in the 1940s and '50s, my family lived in the bush many miles from the nearest town and I had only black friends. I spoke the local African language, 'Ndebele as fluently as I spoke English - possibly better. But we moved to areas where other languages were spoken and I was sent away to attend school. So through lack of use, I've since forgotten all but the most basic greetings in 'Ndebele... It was an exciting childhood: I clearly remember my mother's anguish when a small herd of elephants came through one night and wreaked havoc with her flowerbeds. That was an unusual event. But I often lay awake, terrified by the distinctive grating snarl of a leopard outside my open bedroom window as he prowled close by looking for a tasty dog or cat - or maybe even me - as a snack; and the row when he broke into the chicken run. It was too hot to keep the windows closed. Snakes abounded - everything from the huge, deadly black mambas, notorious for their aggressive nature down to the smallest adders; almost as deadly. I remember seeing a cobra once and it looked all of twelve feet to me, but my father scoffed at that and said it was 'only' about eight feet! I lived and worked a regular civilian life in many parts of Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia - now Zambia.
Juanita: What inspired you to write this book?
Peter: That's a good question, Juanita; mostly my love for the Africa that was. And its people - especially the black Africans who, unlike most of us white Africans had nowhere else to go when the bad guys took over. The decent, often kind and gentle, black Rhodesian Africans were the ones who suffered most during the war. They're suffering even more today...
Juanita: What happens in "Scatterlings of Africa"?
Peter: By December 1972, the war is beginning to hot up. Civilian soldiers are increasingly being called upon to leave their families and careers to fight terrorists 'in the bush'. Unlike most of his compatriots, protagonist Lieutenant Ron Cartwright prefers his life as a soldier. But things are changing back home. His wife, Angela; desperately unhappy about her husband's obsession with the war feels neglected and becomes involved in an illicit romance with her long-lost cousin, Mark. Cartwright is suspicious and trouble brews; he's a hard-bitten, tough soldier by choice and not a man to cross... There's a dramatic end involving all four of the main characters.
Juanita: How did you own experience influence this story and its characters?
Peter: The military parts are very much based on what I experienced during the war. There's one hard-to-believe scene involving an elephant during the story, but I served alongside a man that this actually happened to. All I did was take a number of incidents, many of which happened to me personally, and wove them into the Scatterlings of Africa story. I'd better make it clear that the romantic part did not happen to me - my wife will be reading this - but I knew people whose marriages came under serious strain because of the war, and I knew about wives who had affairs while their husbands were away - it happens more than usual during wars, I think.
Juanita: Would you tell us about Lieutenant Ron Cartwright's obsession with catching the freedom fighter, Gadziwa, and why he chooses to focus his attention militarily rather than on his family?
Peter: Well, it begins with Ron's inclination for the army life in the bush in preference to the rather more mundane life of a civilian at work and home. Cartwright is a hard man. Working as an accountant is no match for the comradeship and excitement of the military. A pretty wife and even limited involvement with three small female children is a mixed blessing and rather boring by comparison with life in his beloved wilds of Africa. The terrorists are bad guys but a good excuse to get away from it all. But atrocities committed by one particular insurgent group turns Ron from general hatred of all terrorists to an obsession with one in particular - led by Comrade Captain Gadziwa, a proud but ruthlessly cruel guerrilla. This gets Cartwright into serious trouble with his Army superiors. In the end the two of them battle it out in hand-to-hand combat.
Juanita: Peter, who are the "scatterlings of Africa"?
Peter: Another good question. During the early 1980s an artist listed as Juluka released this distinctly Africa sounding song - I think it's the same person who is today known as Johnny Clegg... 'They are the scatterlings of Africa Each uprooted one... Scatterlings and fugitives Hooded eyes and weary brows Seek refuge in the night'.
It's really about how Africa is the cradle of humankind, and how we are all scatterlings of Africa. When my wife and I eventually left Africa in the late 1980s we felt like scatterlings - we'd lost our homeland, and I still miss it. So when I was looking for a title for the book I'd written, I decided to use Scatterlings of Africa. If Johnny Clegg's lyrics - and current anthropologists are to be believed, the whole of humankind are scatterlings of Africa. But I believe that we exiled former Africans, black and white, are the modern-day scatterlings of Africa. Those who read my book will see how this fits.
Juanita: You have delved deep into the characters of your book, making this a significant exploration into relationships and personal motivations. It is quite profound. Would you comment?
Peter: Yes, I'm glad that many readers have found this and delighted that you asked the question. I wanted Scatterlings of Africa to appeal to both men and women readers. I also wanted it to be a story about people and how they're affected by war - not just a book about war. So I worked hard at taking my readers deep into each main character's viewpoint - to become one with each character and to understand what he or she was feeling and why they were acting they way they did. Readers will be able to understand what motivates the terrorist, Gadziwa - why he's fighting for his cause, his country - the Zimbabwe that belonged to his ancestors. And why Cartwright is equally determined to fight for his country - the Rhodesia where his settler grandparents and parents carved out a living for themselves from the barren bush. Gosh, that sounds a bit like the American West doesn't it? I want my readers to be able to feel as if they're living in Rhodesia in the 1970s, experiencing some of what people felt during that earlier war against terror.
Juanita: What is the take home message of your book?
Peter: Mostly that there's more to what happened in Rhodesia than the media and governments of the West would like people to know. In reality, there are many sides to the story. And your reviewer, Simon Barrett recognised the link between what's happening in the world today and what happened in Rhodesia way back in the 1970s. I see the same cynical manipulation of the media - propaganda, and similar terror tactics being used in the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq as those used by Mugabe and his insurgents in Rhodesia.
Juanita: The rawness of your story that exposes the reality of violence/turmoil in Africa and juxtaposes it with love/romance is an interesting statement in itself. Would you elaborate? Do you think this dichotomy is true to the African experience?
Peter: Great question - you really have hit the nail on the head. I've tried to take the tragedy of Rhodesia and make it into a readable novel that will entertain as well as educate. After all, we who lived through it had good times as well as bad - mostly good times until near the end. Of course love happens during terrible times... I think love is even more intense; people's inhibitions become less constraining.
Juanita: Many readers of your book remark that your story isn't politically correct. Would you comment?
Peter: You're right there, and I was aware that I'd fall foul of the PC brigade as I wrote the book. I told the story from the viewpoint of the people who were there and lived through it... People who have never been at the sharp end, set the agenda for so called political correctness. With the benefit of hindsight some things could have been done better in Rhodesia; that is the case with almost any endeavor. Could the Romans have ruled the world better and prevented the downfall of civilization that plunged Europe into the mediaeval 'Dark Ages' if they'd done things differently? Maybe Pearl Harbor wouldn't have happened if the Americans had been more alert in December 1941? I don't happen to go along with current thinking on political correctness. One day I think we will come to regret much of what has been and is being done under the guise of political correctness. But Scatterlings of Africa reflects what I saw and believed when I lived through those times. I make no apology.
Juanita: Peter, what are your thought about Africa today, and the continued civil unrest in many of its countries?
Peter: Despair; and anger. It's not just civil unrest that's happening in Africa; the terrible situation in Darfur, for example is close to being genocide. Thanks to liberal western media and politicians, millions of innocent black Africans have died and are still dying; some due to war, others from famine and disease. None of this happened on any scale during colonial times. In 1970s Rhodesia, life expectancy was the highest in Africa - well over 60 years. Now it is 37 years for men and 34 years for women there (see the World Health Organization statistics on Zimbabwe). No wonder there's civil unrest. The (mainly white) liberals and socialist agitators who called for, and financed "freedom" for Africa - many of whom had never actually lived in Africa - mostly now live safe, comfortable lives in Britain, the US and other civilized countries.
I'm not suggesting we should go back to having colonies. That's not possible in Africa anyway; Islamic fundamentalists are taking over north of the equator and Communist China to the south. Africa's vast mineral resources are being exploited today more ruthlessly than was ever the case under colonial rule. And the Muslim religion is being imposed on black African Christians and other 'non-believers' more ruthlessly than Missionaries of old ever preached Christianity. But democracy, as we know it, does not always work in all parts of the world. I even wonder if it's the right thing for Iraq or Afghanistan.
Juanita: Peter, did you find it difficult writing this book? I imagine you would have had to dig deep, into memories that have been buried for years. What was the experience like for you?
Peter: Yes, I did dig deep; I have written this book from my heart. It was difficult, sometimes painful, but at the same time immensely rewarding.
Juanita: Do you ever go back to Africa?
Peter: Juanita, there's an old saying; "you can take the man out of Africa, but you can't take Africa out of the man". Africa is in my blood, my very bones; so yes, I do visit from time to time. It's such a beautiful place. I get depressed with the dirt and poverty now though; it was never like that when I lived there. But the game reserves are still wonderful. I loved going on safari in the Okavango Delta in Botswana a few years ago. And South Africa is a huge country that still has much of its infrastructure intact - and the scenery there is wonderful. On the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia is the mighty Victoria Falls - one of the original seven natural wonders of the world.
Juanita: The writing style in this book, including your realistic descriptions of the land, its people, the conflict, combined with its fast-pace, is receiving high accolades from readers. What is your background with writing?
Peter: Apart from non-fiction, none. But even as a young man I always wanted to write fiction, so I took early retirement some years ago and began the business of learning how to do it. I attended writing courses, read books about writing and went to writers' workshops. When I'd finished writing Scatterlings of Africa, I asked a professional appraiser, who is a published author herself to read and criticize the manuscript for me. She did a wonderful job but I had to virtually re-write the whole book. I sent it back to her a year later and she found less to criticize, and more to praise; another six months of hard work. Last year I gave it to her again and she passed it as being up to publishable standard. The whole thing took me over three years of hard work. Even now that I've learned the trade, every time I read another good book, I learn more.
Juanita: Do you have any more projects in the works?
Peter: Yes, I'm working on a new novel, which I hope will take much less time than Scatterlings of Africa did because of what I've learned. The research takes a lot of time; even though you know your subject well, you forget details after more than thirty years. I want my novels to be authentic, so that veterans will say - 'yes, that's how it was; this author knows what it was like...'
Juanita: How can readers learn more about you and your book?
Peter: For more information about Scatterlings of Africa, please take a look at my website: it's quite easy to find on any of the main search engines - just key in the words Africa Peter Davies and http://www.peterdaviesbooks.com should be near the top of the page. There's a section that enables visitors to read the first few pages; I keep it up to date with the latest reviews, plus links to Amazon. There are a few pictures from my last visit to Botswana, and the unique Okavango Delta - a wildlife-filled water paradise in the middle of a desert, deep in Southern Africa.
Juanita: Peter, thank you for the opportunity to talk with you about "Scatterlings of Africa." Your life experience is incredible and readers will certainly be intrigued by this fascinating dialogue. Before we depart today, do you have any last thoughts you'd like to share?
Peter: Yes, please Juanita; I wrote Scatterlings of Africa to entertain people who like a good action-filled adventure story. I'm grateful that people who have read and reviewed it seem to be saying I've achieved that.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to say thanks to Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson of your organization for his excellent and perceptive review of my book on your site; and to thank you for undertaking this interview with me. I found your questions profound and have really enjoyed answering them.
http://www.readerviews.com/
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