As a child, Donald MacIntosh's heroine was Mary Kingsley, a nineteenth century traveller who successfully took on the forbidding forests and swamps of West Africa. It was an adventure he was to follow for much of his adult life, spending thirty years as a forester in the so-called "white man's grave". MacIntosh, however, more than lived to tell his tales, which he does so here with characteristic gusto and relish.
Here are stories of a somewhat salty nature, both in style and subject matter. In Africa, MacIntosh writes, the sea never sleeps and Forest of Memories is equally vibrant. As always, the tales are rich with characters and humour: Laval, the temperamental but highly successful fishing baboon; Jig-time Charlie, ladies' man and local footballing legend; and the beautiful Titi, who employed both feminine guile and cat droppings to win an international angling competition.
As sharp and cutting as the teeth of the tigerfish, this latest collection finds Donald MacIntosh in splendidly wicked form once again.
