I’m honestly surprised by how disappointing this review section is… I absolutely loved reading this book! I’ve always enjoyed real-life experiences, especially ones that are out of the ordinary, like this one. Though the writing is simple, it took me on an intense emotional journey, keeping me engaged and eager to know what would happen next. Beyond the personal story, it also offers a fascinating glimpse into the Samburu community and their way of life, something I knew little about before reading.

Do I agree with the choices she made? Absolutely not. And I feel like this is what the people actually rated, not the book itself. But that’s her experience and it is what it is. Also, I think many people forget that this took place around the 1980s, a time without the Internet and instant access to information. Even today, there are women in difficult, even abusive, situations or who just make such poor choices.

For me, this book was compelling and I would absolutely recommend it.

I believe this book is only a "somewhat good read" if you've been to Kenya, or if you are interested in the country and the Masai. The book itself isn't that great and I only really enjoyed the parts of the book that were about the country, the language and the vibe there, since I was reading the book while I was in Kenya.

A longer review can be found at Bite Into Books

I'm so curious about other opinions on this book, or if you are willing to give it a try what you'll think afterward. I just loved the Kenyan vibe in this book and that was also the main reason I finished the book. The other aspects in this book didn't bother me that much. Not the characters and not the story itself, so sorry.

Well, that was…a choice. I have a lot of feelings about this book and the woman who wrote it. Corinne Hofmann is a crazy bitch. That’s all there is to it. She travels from Switzerland to Africa with her then fiance, Marco. Sees a Masai warrior in the distance and falls madly in love with him. Literally, love at first sight. Decides right then and there she is going to be with him forever. Girl, what.

Skip ahead a year and she’s living on a dirt floor in a manyatta (one-room, cow-dung huts with straw roofs) with her husband Lketinga, the Masai warrior and Mama (his mother). Now, when I said Hofmann was a crazy bitch I meant it, BUT she’s also incredibly naive, entitled, strong-willed, and determined. The sex between them is terrible, they cannot communicate (she can barely communicate with anyone), she eats nothing but goat and drinks nothing but chai tea, everything is infested with flies/mosquitos, she has to sleep on the ground, she is dirty all the time, there are lions, she has to travel far distances in piece of shit cars for food/supplies/healthcare/ but….she’s happy? Throughout the book Corinne gets malaria like 5 times, becomes so anemic she needs a blood transfusion, gets hepatitis, gets infested with scabies, has to give birth completely malnourished and dehydrated yet STILL wants to make things work with her husband. She is nothing if not the most determined woman I have ever read about.

Then, after like a year of marriage, Lketinga becomes extremely jealous and possessive. Who would have thought maybe you should have gotten to know someone for maybe at least a month before marrying them?

What also struck me as odd was the fact that she put no effort whatsoever into learning about the Masai/Samburu culture or Kenya alone before diving head first into it. Their culture says no kissing, it’s simply not done, and she gets offended. The Samburu men are allowed to have multiple wives, which also offends her. When warriors or other visitors stop by your hut, you are to invite them in and make them chai, that offends her too. So she comes into their country and just pushes her way into their tribe, makes herself at home and starts to decide she’s offended by the way they have done things for hundreds of years? Excuse me? Entitled much?

Then Corinne and Lketinga decide to bring a baby into their mess of a marriage…little baby Napirai. Things are ok for a little while but Lketinga’s jealousy just keeps getting worse and worse. He’s drunk and high all the time, disappearing for nights on end. I may think Corinne is an idiot but that doesn’t mean she deserves the abuse. After building up and running two successful shops (without the help of her local husband) for the locals to shop at, she eventually says enough is enough and escapes Kenya with Napirai back to Switzerland. Now this is a tough one because although Lketinga is Napirai’s father and he has a right to say how and where she’ll be raised, I do feel like Corinne thought her life was in danger and needed to get out of her situation.

In the end, Lketinga was a simple uneducated man who just wanted to dance and hunt for food. Corinne was a rich and ambitious white woman who wanted a little adventure and took advantage of him.

The book itself was very easy to read and moved incredibly fast. I really did enjoy the story for what it was. It showed me how far some people are willing to go for love, or what they think is love, anyway. I did love Lketinga’s younger brother, James. He was going to a modern school and would visit and help Corinne out at her shops during the holidays. He was such a sweet little boy. I hope he is doing well for himself now.

The White Masai: An Exotic Tale of Love and Adventure by Corinne Hofmann

I want to begin by saying I DO NOT recommend this book! Why did I even read it? I so rarely read books that infuriate me. My neighbor, Veronica, loaned me this book saying only, “I’ve been reading nonstop for two days; I can’t put this down!” Though she gave me a brief synopsis, she never said, “This woman is completely insane!” That’s what she told me when I mentioned that I was so ANGRY with Corinne that I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to get to the end of the book to be vindicated!

Twenty years ago Corinne Hofmann, a 27 year old Swiss businesswoman, traveled with her boyfriend to Mombasa, Kenya on holiday. She fell head over heels in love with a Masai warrior. It was love at first sight. She and Lketinga could barely communicate in English and sign language as neither knew the other’s native language.

This book is about their three + years together. They marry and have a child, Napirai. What made me crazed as I read this book? Corinne goes to live with her husband in the bush where conditions are primitive. Food is scarce. She suffers every imaginable deprivation and ends up close to death on several occasions. Lketinga is the prototypical jealous man. He falsely accuses her of being involved with virtually every male she comes into contact with – and this never ends despite her protestations. Trust erodes over time of course and we know from the beginning of the book that she will eventually leave him. THANK GOD!

I was incensed that Corinne continually referred to this most difficult man as “my darling” and that she forgave him endlessly for the miseries he brought upon them.

I kept reading because I wanted to witness the diminuendo of this sad saga. I was also intrigued by revelations of cultural aspects of the Samburu which Corinne learned about by default. Living in Jamaica I am well aware of the absurdities of bureaucratic entanglements here. The bureaucratic frustrations/nightmares that Corinne and Lketinga encounter in Kenya make what I’ve seen here look like a lark.

When they’re living in Lketinga’s home village of Barsaloi, Corinne buys a Landrover with four wheel drive:

The next few days are pure pleasure. We have enough to eat and more than enough gasoline. Every day we use the car to either visit relatives or fetch wood. Occasionally we drive down to the river for our washing ritual and bring back water canisters for half of Barsaloi, sometimes as many as twenty. However, all these little expeditions soon begin to eat into the fuel supply, and I begin to raise objections, which every time ends up in a long debate. (p. 105)

I Googled Corinne Hofmann and learned that she’s written two memoirs subsequent to this one. Their titles are telling: Reunion in Barsaloi (2007) and Back from Africa (2009). She actually goes back to this place? No doubt so that her daughter can meet his father and his family, but still!

priča nije pisana divnim književnim jezikom na koji smo navikli.........ali sama priča o tome da je jedna žena odlučila napustiti blagodati suvremenog života u Švicarskoj i pristala živjeti u primitivnim uvjetima u Keniji, govori koliko ljubav može biti jaka......divim joj se na svoj hrabrosti i svim žrtvama....

O poveste total atipică. Cu atât mai mult cu cât este realitate. Am citit cartea cu gura căscată și nu pot sa cred de ce sunt oamenii în stare când sunt îndrăgostiți.
PS: filmul este mai digerabil

Desi mi-am zis ca nu o sa mai scriu "recenzii" pe aici atunci cand termin o carte, pentru ca in principal mi se pare pierdere de timp, timp pe care-l poti folosi mai util: citind o alta carte... de data asta nu ma pot abtine. Cand am gasit cartea am zis "meh, o iau doar pentru ca-mi place titlul si pentru ca imi plac negrii, Africa, tribul masai in special. Poate gasesc lucruri interesante de invatat prin ea, iar daca dupa 30 de pagini nu-mi place, o abandonez."

Aha, ei bine, am devorat-o! E fascinanta povestea, dar in acelasi timp extrem de trista. Cand o sa mai aud cliseul ala cu "de la extaz la agonie", la cartea asta o sa ma gandesc.

I am a bit conflicted about this book. It does not get four stars because I think the prose is beautiful or profound. This book is essentially the memoir of a Swiss woman who is on holiday in Kenya and 'falls in love' (I'd call it lust) with a Kenyan Masai warrior. The book takes place over approximately 3 years of the author's life, in which she breaks up with her Swiss boyfriend, sells everything she owns (car, apartment, dress shop) in Switzerland to live a very difficult life in Kenya. Her 'darling' as she frequently calls him, is ultimately a violent, jealous, immature man. From the first page, I could tell this story would not end well. Reading this book was like watching a train wreck in brutal slow motion. I decided to give it four stars because it is a great, unique depiction of the Kenyan Masai way of life. The language, gender, cultural barriers are so significant that if this book were fiction (verses a memoir) i'd put it down because the premise would seem so preposterous.

This book provides a fascinating insight into certain socio-economic barriers that are too formidable to be overcome, even by love (or perhaps lust?). I end up sort of feeling sorry for all the principal characters, weighed down by their own cultural baggage and socialisation, caught between their old worlds and new worlds. I suppose the only disappointing element of this book is the language. It’s very basic and cannot really count as literature.

Die wahre Geschichte an sich hat absolutes Suchtpotenzial, allerdings ist der Schreibstil für meinen Geschmack schon fast unterirdisch. Aber ich konnte das Buch trotzdem nicht aus der Hand legen. Eher 3,5 Sterne.

Foi a "releitura" de um livro que já tinha lido há uns anos, para agora poder avançar com a leitura dos seguintes e ler a continuação da história.
Este é um livro que me ficou na memória por ser para mim difícil de entender.
O que leva uma mulher a trocar uma vida independente, com conforto, e autonomia, por uma vida em que as provações físicas e psicologias junto com a diferença cultural são levadas ao limite e ainda faze-lo de livre vontade e ser até quem luta, muitas vezes contornando e lutando com muitas dificuldades, para conseguir tudo isto?
Amor? Fascinio? Obsessão?

I give this book a 2 out of 5-star rating

After reading this I can't help but feel completely and utterly dumbfounded at her ignorance and poor decisions that could've been avoided!!!

Here's my review below:

While traveling in Kenya with her THEN-boyfriend at the time she meets a Masai warrior and falls instantly in love with him which to me isn't love but honey it's an obsession!

She's willing to make a life-changing decision to move countries, her life back in Swizterland to a guy she just met in a different country, and not to mention the huge cultural differences but what about learning the Samburu language, or even Swahili?

Wouldn't you wanna get to know the people and their culture and the bloke she's obsessively crushing on before jumping the gun?!?! Perhaps things would've been different if she had taken the time to gain a better understanding of the Masai culture and language and taken an extended amount of time to become familiar with his family, and the community as a whole.

Nope!!!