Interesting, personal details and you’ll learn a lot. I’m glad I’ve read it but I didn’t actually enjoy it that much while I was reading it. Some parts I definitely did but mostly I forced my way through.

Fantastic book, a real page turner.

However I really disliked the author/main character's behaviour in the story. I don't know what she was thinking or if she was thinking at all.

This said I may well read the sequels to find out what happened next to her and her family.

Ce livre m’a beaucoup intriguée par son thème mais j’ai été perplexe tout au long de ma lecture. Le début est totalement absurde, une jeune femme suisse tombe amoureuse d’un guerrier massai sans même lui parler et laisse tomber son copain de l’époque pour le retrouver. L’histoire est tout de même intéressante car elle permet d’en apprendre plus sur la vie des Massai, leur culture etc. Je n’ai pas du tout apprécié le personnage principal par ses réflexions et comportements en général.

A Swiss woman travels to Africa with her boyfriend for vacation. While there she meets a Masai warrior, decides she’s in love, breaks up with said boyfriend, and pursues a relationship with a man with whom she doesn’t even speak the same language.

I read this for my book club. I only mention that because if it hadn't been for book club then there's no way I would have finished this. The writing is pretty awful, the actual events are infuriating and the end result is not surprising.

I don’t think anyone would be shocked to find out that there are huge cultural differences between the two. The way the men and women relate in their different cultures, the way food is made, the way weddings occur, etc. You name it and it’s different from what she knows. She also spent most of her time in Africa near death from different diseases or broke down on the side of the road.

BOTTOM LINE: I hated it. I just wanted to slap the author for all of her naïve and dangerous decisions. She didn’t take her life or the situation seriously until the very end. There were dozens of red flags, but nothing seemed to matter except her blind infatuation. Ugh.

With all the negative reviews for this book, I felt the need to comment on my thoughts on the book.

I found the reviews were mainly based on people's feelings of the author herself as opposed to the actual book.

While I also didn't agree with everything (if anything?) that the author did, that really has nothing to do with the story itself.

I think it's fair to remember, English is not her first language and I am assuming she wrote it in German and it was then translated? - So there are a few sayings and sentences that sound funny due to this. It wasn't constant throughout every chapter and it was not at all off putting. It didn't bother me at all.

All in all, I found the story very interesting and insightful, regardless of what her decisions were and what happened throughout the story.

I found myself tearing through the book whenever I got a spare second as I wanted to find out what happened next. I really enjoyed reading it and found her detail incredibly believable and managed to feel like I was there along for the ride with her.

On that note, the only thing that I could have done with a little less of was the very detailed stories of the car constantly breaking down. But that might just be me


- In conclusion, the story is unique and interesting, so long as you don't get worked up over her decisions throughout.

Can't believe this actually got published.

Мені здається, що європейців можна, грубо кажучи, поділити на категорії щодо їх захоплення чимось далеким та екзотичним: є люди, яким мила Африка, є ті, котрим близький Схід, а хтось шаленіє від Латинської Америки. Я однозначно належу до перших, тому книги про цей континент, культуру та історію його народів мене дуже приваблюють (тут гріхом буде не згадати про "Половину жовтого сонця" Чімаманди Нгозі Адічі — найкращий роман про Африку з усіх, що мені до цього часу траплялися). "Біла масаї" цінна, поміж іншого, ще й тим, що описує життя однієї з корінних народностей Кенії з точки зору білої (не порахуйте за расизм, так у заголовку книги написано))) людини, котра з головою занурилася в побут і не тільки.

Отже, сюжет: молода жінка зі Швейцарії, приїхавши до Кенії у відпустку, так закохується в юнака-масаї, що вирішує не тільки вийти за нього заміж, а й оселитися з ним у маленькому й геть далекому від цивілізації селищі. Як ви гадаєте, що з цього вийшло? Ні-ні, я не вас, романтиків у рожевих окулярах, запитую, а тих, хто, з огляду на досвід, а чи на цинізм, здатен реально оцінити ситуацію. Так отож, як кажуть: фінал стосунків можна було передбачити з самого початку роману, і я наприкінці книги аж зітхнула з полегшенням — не розчарувала авторка, бо у випадку повного геппі-енду я їй не повірила б.

Хоча не вірити Корінні Хофманн важко, адже твір — зовсім не художній. Маю на увазі як його біографічну, цебто геть не вигадану, основу, так і відсутність інших ознак того, що зазвичай називають художньою літературою: глибоких образів, красивих метафор та описів, занурення у щось більше, ніж побут... Однак згадайте успіх "Вуличного кота Боба" — книги, точнісінько такої ж за згаданими мною вище ознаками, — і ви зрозумієте, чому "Білу масаї" читають і навіть екранізували (фільму ще не бачила). Це — справжнє життя, без епітетів і прикрас. Подобається чи ні, а героїня перейнялася пристрастю до чорношкірого воїна і, теж подобається чи ні, обламалася. Вона схильна пояснювати це різницею в культурах та ментальності — нехай буде так. Я ж — здоровим глуздом жінки, якій набридло приносити себе в жертву чоловікові (а це ми схильні робити, незаважаючи на те, якого кольору шкіра в коханого і де він пропонує нам жити: в маньяті чи палаці).

Відкриваючи книгу, я хотіла в Африку. Прочитала про ті труднощі з бюрократією та хабарями, водою і їжею, автобусами й дорогами, заробітком та витратами і... так само хочу в Африку. Бо хіба нас, українців, можна налякати тим, із чим ми постійно стикаємося?))) Мене, як авторку, швейцарський рівень життя не розбалував))) От тільки заміж за масаї точно не піду, і не просіть)))

Hated it. Only finished it to see if the author grew a brain, but she didn't.
You can't own another person, but she continually refers to her husband as 'my Masai'. If you want to endanger your own life by getting malaria and leaving it untreated, that's your own silly fault, but don't bring a baby into the world if you don't even have basic food and sanitation to care for her.
The whole idea of falling instantly in love with anyone is just silly, and completely ludicrous if that person can't speak your language and is culturally about as different from you as it's possible to be. The way she is constantly surprised at all the cultural differences just grated on me so much, ever heard of a bit of research luv?
Even saying that she didn't want to know anything about giving birth annoyed me, ok to leave you and your babies health in the lap of the doctors if you are in a first world country with good medical care, but not wanting to know anything when you're about to give birth in the middle of Africa? Sheer utter stupidity in my opinion.
I tried to put the poor writing style down to a sub-standard translation or editing, but in the end I couldn't forgive the endless whining and complaining about her lot, when she chose it in the first place. 'We took a long car trip and I had to change the babies nappy countless times' umm, yep, that's what parents do, did you expect her to hold on to her wee or something?? Stupid brainless twit of a woman, I feel sorry for her husband and her child.

Edit: consiglio a chiunque abbia letto la Masai bianca (no, lo consiglio a chiunque), di spendere bene 15 minuti e seguire l'intervista di Daria Bignardi a Gaia Dominici, una ragazza che da molti anni vive felicemente in Kenya, sposata ad un guerriero Masai ( https://www.capital.it/articoli/la-st... ).
Dona un interessante punto di vista differente rispetto alla storia di Corinne, e fa riflettere ancor piu' sul ruolo del compromesso e della volonta' a volersi integrare in una societa' differente. Ogni esperienza e' a se', ma queste differenze fanno riflettere.
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La storia di Corinne è l'esempio vivente di quell'Amore che ti prende e ti sconvolge, quell'amore che si vede nei film. Ma è anche la conferma che l'Amore, quello che può andare lontano, è fatto di compromessi.
Due mondi opposti, da un lato la Svizzera, così ordinata, rigorosa, un po' rigida. E dall'altra l'Africa, così caotica, che va presa un po' come viene. Incredibile far incontrare questi due mondi, eppure.
Con i suoi 27 anni Corinne è parecchio sconsiderata, mi stupisce come sia riuscita a cavarsela tra tutti i pericoli sempre e comunque. In alcuni momenti sarebbe un po' stata da prendere anche a sberle per come abbia messo a rischio la sua vita e la sua salute .
Però in fondo non mi stupisce che l'esito di questa storia sia così triste. Certo i due mondi sono differenti, ma come poteva Lketinga capire? Come poteva aprire gli occhi se non ha mai visto quale fosse la cultura di Corinne? Lei si è gettata a capofitto nella vita di lui, ma non c'è stata reciprocità. E allora mi sembra quasi scontato che questi due mondi facciano così fatica ad amalgamarsi. Peccato.

I had to stop reading The White Masai after reaching page 40 because I found it deeply problematic in many ways. The book perpetuates racist and colonial narratives, particularly through its portrayal of the “exotic” and “wild” Maasai man. From the start, the author refers to him as “my Maasai,” reducing him to a symbol of her obsession rather than a fully realized individual. This possessive and objectifying language is uncomfortable and reminiscent of colonial attitudes.
The premise itself feels unrealistic and unsettling. The author becomes infatuated with a man she cannot communicate with, solely based on his appearance, and her behavior borders on obsession. It’s hard not to think about how creepy and problematic this dynamic would feel if the roles were reversed, and the Maasai man didn’t reciprocate her feelings.
Furthermore, a particularly troubling scene occurs when the couple spends their first night together. The depiction of their sexual encounter does not suggest consent; it reads more like repeated sexual assault. Instead of addressing this critically, the author excuses the behavior as a “cultural difference,” which is both racist and harmful. Such actions are not a reflection of “culture” but of patriarchal systems that exist globally.
Overall, the book romanticizes harmful stereotypes, exoticizes an entire culture, and fails to engage critically with serious issues like consent. I found it deeply uncomfortable and cannot recommend it.

In a way I think this book's strength and its weakness are one and the same: there's no analysis. It's all in the present tense, written as though she had not had ten years between her time in Kenya and the book's publication in which to reflect and draw new conclusions. It's a strength because the reader is able to experience things (sort of) as she did, without outside clutter; it's a weakness because, well, there's a lot that could have used further explanation.

To some degree I admire the author quite a lot: packing up and moving to a country, and a culture, you know almost nothing about? That takes courage (and possibly less-desireable traits, but let's stick with courage for the moment). She doesn't seem to spend much time being homesick, and she puts a lot of effort into making things work.

But the title is misleading. She might have lived among the Maasai, but she never fully integrated; her good friends in Kenya were white; even had she stayed longer she was always going to be, to some degree or other, an outsider. As far as I could tell the only Kenyans she felt particularly close with were Lketinga's mother and the vet's wife (who was Kenyan, right? I'm not 100% sure).

It's clear fairly early on that this was a relationship that was going to, at best, struggle. Without a common language, they couldn't communicate effectively, and neither would be happy unless the other changed significantly. (I will note that while she was the one to move to his country and his culture -- of her own volition, and without much by way of encouragement from, well, anyone -- most of the changes in viewpoint and so on were ones that she expected him to make.)

But, right, questions. There was some really interesting stuff in this book that I wish had been explored in more depth (and which of course wasn't, perhaps owing to the aforementioned lack of analysis). There's a tremendous amount of racism displayed, for example: nobody can understand why she wants to marry a Kenyan; hotels and restaurants are for tourists only; Lketinga is looked down upon for being a Maasai warrior; etc. I don't know how true this still is in Kenya, but a little more thought on that would have been nice. (Also, a sense of exoticism/romantic view of other cultures from her, although I am undecided on how I feel about how she presented that. I wish she'd said more about what appealed about Lketinga, because the only thing that's obvious is that she had physical attraction to him.)

The other big question -- what did she expect to happen long-term? She (understandably, from a western point of view) didn't want her daughter to be circumcised, but did she expect her daughter to grow up and marry a Maasai man? To go to college? If so, in Europe or in Kenya? How would the author herself have felt if she didn't have her Swiss bank accounts to fall back on and could not so easily make it home to visit or to stay?

Interesting book. Problematic, but interesting.

I found this book while perusing the non-fiction shelf at the East Windsor Branch of the Queens Public Library. I first noticed the word Masai, and thought back to some comments my friend Penny had made after her trip to Kenya where she visited a Masai village. She was shocked at the poor treatment of women. I opened the inside cover and read that the book was an autobiography about a Swiss woman who fell instantly in love with a Masai man and gave up her life in Switzerland to live with the man in the African bush. As a woman who also fell head over heels in love with a man from a completely different culture, I was curious to see what would happen.

I actually knew what was going to happen. Like a person who jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and knows what kind of hell it feels like to hit the ground without one, I couldn't help peeling my eyes towards the sky and watching her hit the ground. This is not out of evilness, but out of loniliness, to see that I was not the only one foolish enough, stupid enough, naive enough, to make such a mistake. Reading the book was like watching a horror movie, where you are like, "No, don't go into that dark forest at night all by yourself. You're gonna get yourself killed." I was shouting out her, "No, don't go after this man who comes from a completely different culture. You're going to ruin your life. His life. IT WON'T WORK!!" I also began to read with a little satisfaction that I found someone who had even worse judgement than my own. At least, I did not give up everything for the man I loved and moved to his country. I don't think I would have done that. Also, there was some communication between him and me. For Corrinne, it seemed to be based entirely on looks. Yes, I can pat myself on the back, I am not the stupidest person out there. It brings up the issue of making judgements when in love. Isn't love very dangerous? Doesn't it lead us to situations we shouldn't be in? Is love ever clear? What separates those of us who make rash judgements for love and those who don't? Was her love with Lketinga ever real or was it just infatuation? Why doesn't she see all the warning signs of how they are incompatible?

Besides all the love issues, the book did provide some fascinating insight into the life of the Masai people. Life sure ain't easy there. Corrinne suffers from malaria and then hepatitis, life threatening diseases that we never think about in our comfortable American lives. She also has to deal with everyday hardships like keeping clean, using the toilet and having a comfortable place to sleep. I was amazed at what a difference her store made in the lives of the people in the village. At first, I thought that nobody would have money to buy any of the items in the store, but the bigger problem was transporting the goods to the remote area. I do give her credit for being so brave in driving through the jungle back and forth. It was amazing that even in the African bush, relationship problems often come back to money. She was working hard, while her husband was wasting money on drugs and beer.

One of the interesting parts of the story was how he changed because of her, and not in the best way. She pulled him away from his tradition and culture, leading to come conflict within himself. Before her, he never drank or kissed a woman's face. He probably would have been better off never having met her. Comprimising on tradition and lifestyle is not an easy task, especially when a person feels like they are giving something up of themselves.

Every time she called Lketinga "my darling," I wanted to vomit. Didn't she see how he was treating her? How come everyone can see a train wreck coming except the people on the train?

Also, I found it disturbing how she always talked about his looks, and how she liked how he did his hair and decorations. I did not really see why she fell for him or stayed with him beyond his filling her fantasy of the "noble savage."

Well, the question is "Should you read this, too?"

If you want to learn more about the life of the Masai people -- yes.
If you want to warn somebody about the real dangers of love at first sight -- yes.