The sun was rising when they rode out of the gates and up the dust tracks towards the Umguza River. The eastern horizon was glowing in silent anticipation of the sun-filled day ahead. Isabella sat next to Gonda on the bench at the front of the mule cart, while Anthony and James rode their horses, and the dogs ran excitedly behind them. Isabella breathed deeply, smelling the dampness of the morning dew on the tall, dry grass. 
From English woman to African artist 
Like the artist Thomas Baines, Isabella Braithwaite was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk. From the moment she views his breathtaking paintings of the Victoria Falls she knows she wants to live in Africa and become an artist like him. 
She travels to the burgeoning country of Southern Rhodesia in 1898 where she meets and marries the banker, Anthony Craig. Together they enjoy a pioneering lifestyle in the settlement of Bulawayo; until their lives are shattered by the death of their infant son. 
In an attempt to pick up the pieces, Anthony accepts an offer from the wealthy businessman, Sir James Brooke, to partner him in an exploration company. This partnership includes moving into Sunrising, the beautiful house Sir James built a few years earlier. 
Their lives improve dramatically after this. 
Then, a second and more sinister tragedy occurs, leaving Isabella in turmoil. She no longer knows where she belongs or how she will ever cope again. 
Product Information 
"Vivid descriptions of the African bushveld establish the setting for numerous activities and events. Flora and fauna unique to this environment: impala, a full chorus of frogs in the front yard, elephants, snakes, crocodiles, monkeys and baboons popping up intermittently, are not gratuitously inserted in scenes. Each encounter with these animals add to character and plot development. The crocodile scene provides suspense whenever anyone goes near a river. 
The prologue is interesting and important, providing historical background to the narrative. There are many factual references in the story, as well as allusions to real life events, like a train crashing into an elephant, or a 'loya', a curse put on somebody by a witch doctor. 
Naïve Isabella is a complex and admirable protagonist. A varied cast intertwine her life. Anthony Craig is the perfect husband, kind and considerate. Sir James Brooke is a generous and elusive friend who comes and goes like a mysterious godfather. Gonda, the anachronistic major domo, is a gem, so opposite from Mabel, the annoyingly wicked ladies' maid from England. 
This story has romance, heroism, tragedy, villainy, and colonialism at its most genteel; a varied array of themes to delight any reader." Lynette McPeake, Canada.\nThe Sunrising Series 
The Sunrising Series depicts the lives of fictional families, the Craigs and the Brookes and their relationship with Africa and the people who they mix with there, from the time the first generation arrived as pioneers at the beginning of the twentieth century to the modern era. There is a forty year gap between the books and each is a standalone story.\nReal life events and experiences are mixed with fiction to reveal the evolving interpersonal and socio economic landscape as the country moves from a British colony to an independent African country. The first two books in the series are set in colonial times while the second two, to be published in 2023 and 2025, will focus on life in the country after independence.

Sunrising (The Sunrising Series)

Literature & Fiction

Hubert, Susan

Genre Fiction

Zimbabwe

Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt Oliver Craig next to her, putting one hand over her mouth and the other on her shoulder, pulling her from the bench and pushing her towards the path. She stumbled up the steps to the veranda, but the lights were shining and they could hear people talking in the bar. Oliver hesitated. He shook his head and nodded towards the dark car park, directing her towards this.\nFrom the magnificent wide-open spaces of Africa where he was brought up, to haunting recollections of his confinement in Italy, this is the story of Oliver Craig returning to his farm in Africa after the Second World War.\nThings changed significantly in the six years Oliver was away, with the birth of his daughter, Amanda in 1940, followed by the death of his wife in 1943. Amanda went to live with her grandmother, the famous artist, Isabella Craig, but Isabella insists she moves back in with her father on his return. Having never known each other before, Oliver and Amanda are uncomfortable with this arrangement and do everything they can to avoid each other.\nAfrica is a vibrant place in the late 1940s with thousands of immigrants moving there to escape the aftermath of the war in Europe. The British Royal Family tour Southern Rhodesia in April 1947, and Isabella Craig is commissioned to do a painting of Rhodes’s grave, which she presents to the King and Queen when they visit the Matopos Hills. At this presentation, the Craigs meet a Mr and Mrs Sanderson and their daughter Lily, and, as their lives become entwined over the next few months, they discover they have always been connected in a most unexpected way.\nFrom the back cover\n" ‘The Sun is Bright’ is a skilfully crafted, unpretentiously written novel set in Bulawayo just after the Second World War. It picks up threads from its predecessor but stands happily in its own right and, as in ‘Sunrising’, the first in the series, manages to blend history and adroit social comment with the story without ever impeding the narrative flow or seeming to preach. It’s good to be reminded of just what was achieved in Rhodesia by some remarkable people in the country’s earlier days and it’s one of the many virtues of Susan Hubert’s story that it’s always engrossing and believable whilst drawing what seems to be an accurate and realistic picture of what life was like - there’s real insight into post-war colonial Rhodesia. The main characters are sensitively and believably written with the result that we genuinely care about what happens to them and the narrative flows easily. Anyone who has read the first book in the series will need no prompting to read this one too - and everyone who does read it will undoubtedly look forward to its successor!" 
Michael Bullivant OBE, 
Historian and Principal of Zimbabwe Academy of Music\nThe Sunrising Series\nThe Sunrising Series depicts the lives of fictional families, the Craigs and the Brookes and their relationship with Africa and the people who they mix with there, from the time the first generation arrived as pioneers at the beginning of the twentieth century to the modern era. There is a forty year gap between the books, and each is a standalone story. 
Real life events and experiences are mixed with fiction to reveal the evolving interpersonal and socio-economic landscape as the country moves from a British colony to an independent African country. The first two books in the series are set in colonial times while the second two, to be published in 2023 and 2025, will focus on life in the country after independence

The Sun is Bright: The story of a family who chose Africa as their home - The post WW2 generation (The Sunrising Series)

The Full Moon Rises at Sunset: The story of a family who chose Africa as their home - the post Independence generation (The Sunrising Series)

Literary

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