I really enjoyed this book and learning about the life of Joan Root. What a strong, amazing woman! In her young adulthood she was a star wildlife filmmaker with her husband Alan Root. In later years she became dedicated to protecting the animals, lake, and overall ecosystem of her home, Lake Naivasha in Kenya. All were under attack due to poaching, poverty, and the rose industry in that country. In her determination to conservation, she made enemies, and in 2006 she was killed. Her story is inspiring and I hope has been a catalyst for change. I'm anxious to go read more about her and what is happening in Lake Naivasha now. ( )

Mark Seal admits in the opening of the book that he had never been to Kenya before he decided to research this story for an article that grew into a book. The early part of the book, which deals with Joan and Alan Root's early lives and the development of their film making careers, as well as the eventual end of their marriage and partnership, is an interesting personal story. But when Seal moves on to describe Joan's life alone, and the personal and political circumstances that led to murder, the level of research is clearly not stellar and the story becomes nothing more than a rehashing of news stories and court testimony interspersed with tributes to Joan's personal qualities. In the murky world of Kenyan class, race and tribal politics Seal is clearly way out of his depth. His research is sketchy and seems not even to have included some obvious traditional sources of social and political history. The last quarter of the book is interesting but disappointingly shallow. ( )

How much do you know about Africa, truly? If you think, "Something about diamonds, and poverty," then this book will help illuminate other conflicts that you may not have considered. Africa is a country where no one is at fault but everyone is to blame, including possibly Joan Root herself when it comes to her untimely death. Her life story is admirable, and what she accomplished helps highlight an often misunderstood country. Mark Seal thoroughly researches and narrates her life and sad demise, but what endures through his book is the heartfelt efforts of Joan and others giving their all for a country in peril. ( )

AUTHOR: SEAL, MARK
TITLE: Wildflower
DATE READ: 05/18/14
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: Bio/2009/Random House/212 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: SA
TIME/PLACE: 1960's - 2004
CHARACTERS: Joan Root -- wildlife filmmaker

FIRST LINES: " One can only imagine what British colonialists felt when they first sailed from chilly & proper England to hot, exotic Kenya."
COMMENTS: Fascinating look at the life of wildlife filmmaker Joan Root. For years Joan worked w/ her husband on wildlife films, mostly in Africa, he was the extrovert and she did all the behind the scenes work. They were a great team. She was deeply in love w/ Alan and expected their partnership to last forever. Alan divorced Joan and married 2 other women… Joan never remarried. Joan after her marriage always had a conservation cause and was stalwart in her beliefs and actions. She was trying to save the integrity of the lake near her home from the chemicals that were ruining it from the nearby flower farms that seemed to be popping up all over. To me a better title for this book should have been Betrayal -- she was betrayed in a sense by her husband she gave him everything and still there was something else he wanted. And most of all she worked relentlessly for a retaining the natural beauty of Kenya and it was the locals that eventually killed her. She was a vastly interesting women and there were a few passages in this book I found enlightening. There was mention towards the end that a movie was being made of her life … I would love to view it. ( )

I am drawn to the strong British women of Africa and Joan Root was an amazing person. ( )