Rainbow's End

Written by Lauren St John

Narrated by Bianca Amato

This searingly honest memoir describes growing up on an African farm during the Rhodesian Bush War and the twilight years of white colonialism in the 1970s. It also explores the shock yet euphoria of Zimbabwean independence in the 1980s as St John navigates her way through the immense personal and political changes. The abundance and beauty of Africa and its people, as well as childhood innocence, are superbly contrasted with the insidiousness of racism, war and nationalist propaganda to create an unforgettable read - eloquent, affecting and utterly spellbinding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Aug 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781407407555

Lauren St John

Lauren St John was born in Gatooma, Rhodesia, now Kadoma, Zimbabwe, in December 1966. After studying journalism in Africa, she moved to London, where she was for many years golf correspondent to The Sunday Times. She is the author of several books on sports, the biography Hardcore Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle, and one children's novel, The White Giraffe.

Reviews for Rainbow's End

[mlpedler · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is Not Rainbow's End by Lauren St. John. This is some other book. I'm confused!!

[seriousgrace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rainbow's End is a 1000 acre farm and game preserve in Rhodesia. In the fall of 1978 eleven year old Lauren St. John moves there with her family. This is during the dying, yet bloody, last stages of the Rhodesian Bush War. Rainbow's End isn't just a sprawling farm, it is also the scene of a bloody massacre less than a year earlier. The blood evidence still lingered.Because Lauren's coming of age years coincided with her time on the Rainbow's End farm and the end of Rhodesia her memoir is part teenage angst biography and part commentary on the the war and its politics. Was it about Communism versus democracy or black against white? What makes Rainbow's End so interesting is Lauren's perception of being white in newly formed Zimbabwe after Independence and the realization she has been loving a war for all the wrong reasons.There is no doubt of Rhodesia's untamed beauty.

[bookwoman247 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the author's account of growing up as Rhodesia made the painful transition into Zimbabwe.St. John juxtaposes beautifully the bucolic splendor, the halcyon idyll, the gentleness of the people with the terrors and brutality of war.I loved this book and thought it was even better than Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.

[stacyinthecity · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I never learned much about Africa in school. But the countries in Africa have a rich history. Lauren St John tells us about her life in the context of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe's history as a nation, particularly during the turbulent years of the civil war.Lauren is much like I was as a child. A bit of a tomboy, obsessed with horses and animals, and idealizing her father. She spends the majority of her childhood on one of two farms surrounded by the wild and domesticated animals she loves. Meanwhile, the war rages on. She considers it a bit of an adventure, with her dad going off to fight now and then. She compares her life to the romance of the old American west.But when the war is over, she discovers that the land she loved is not really hers. The values she was brought up with as a child were based on racism and oppression and she has to learn to deal with this new reality.This memoir is an important look at the Zimbabwe civil war and taught me so much about the history and culture of that country. The book is also a look at childhood; how one can be blinded by devotion to a parent and not see the full truth. The book shows us how even in these dangerous circumstances, children can adapt and still have a blissful childhood. Finally, the book is a love letter to Africa. Her home, her family's home for 4 generations, yet it will never really be hers.

[schatzi_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been on a real memoir-reading kick lately, and this has been one of the better ones that I've read this year so far. Lauren St. John explores her (somewhat dysfunctional) childhood in Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). The book starts out with a violent attack against the previous owners of Rainbow's End, a farm that St. John and her family will eventually inhabit, resulting in the death of several people, including a fellow classmate. The book then shift gears, back to Lauren's early childhood, before describing how she and her family came to live on Rainbow's End. Although, at times, the place seems to be idyllic, the Rhodesian Bush War is raging around them, and St. John and her family live with the constant fear that something bad will happen to them (except her father, who seems to have no fear of death or injury). I didn't have any knowledge of Rhodesia before reading this book; in fact, my knowledge of African history in general is rather shameful. But I could almost see the scenery as St. John painted a picture of it with her words. It was a great memoir and kept me interested.

[nowthatsoriginal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this autobiography so much. It is also the story of a way of life that no longer exists and the author conveys this part with poignance, but not regret. St. John is aware that the colonial oppression she was born into needed to be replaced, but she is not blind to the irony that the leader who came into power allowed fear, threats and violence to continue.Lauren St. John lived a delightful childhood that nearly mirrored my daydreams and play: unlimited exotic pets, horses, dogs, wild country to play in, and permissive, glamorous parents. Even the war that overshadows most of this story is like a part of the perfect fantasy. Her dad was a larger than life bona fide hero risking his life with a laugh just like a movie star. Then in adolescence, along with her own biological changes, almost everything from her nearly perfect childhood crumbles leaving the fantasy in ashes around her. She basically loses everything that had formed her life.I was swept into her loving descriptions of the land I daydreamed about going to. I was saddened by the destruction that political humans insist on inflicting across such wide areas of our world. But she tells of the desecration without bitterness and her compassionate understanding keeps the reader from sinking into fruitless political ruminations.This young woman is a life-loving hero herself and what might have destroyed a less resilient person, simply becomes a new direction for her with deeper insights, even wisdom.

[jgoto_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rainbow’s End is a memoir set in a place that longer exists. Lauren St. John spent her early childhood on a farm in white-ruled Rhodesia. Her story is one with many contradictions and highlights her loss of innocence. As Lauren grows, she realizes that her perceptions of reality, her understanding of country and family, were in large part mere illusions. The memoir is filled with images of the African landscape. The political landscape is also ever-present. It is seen with the childlike innocence of a girl exposed to the world through the eyes of her parents. Lauren was eleven years old at the beginning of the Rhodesian Bush War. She trusted the adults around her implicitly and truly believed that the war wasn’t one about racism; after all, many of the members in the Rhodesian army were black. The Communists were the enemy, and she fervently believed in the righteousness of the Rhodesian army. She loved her country unconditionally. When independence was finally achieved and the country became Zimbabwe, Lauren’s shock at the reality of the situation was palpable.“For me it was the euphoria that was the giveaway. That and the fact that I’d only recently registered the name of Mugabe, and yet every black person in Zimbabwe seemed to have known about him for years…it was the euphoria that told me that the war of freedom, which in my childish innocence I had believed we were fighting against Communism, had turned out to be someone else’s war of freedom. WE were the terrorists. Our heroes were not heroes at all, they were evil racists. Only black people were allowed to be heroes.”The memoir allows us to follow Lauren’s life after the establishment of Zimbabwe, as well. We see the tumultuous relationship between her eccentric parents, her life at boarding school, her dreams for the future, and the beginnings of the reign of terror under Mugabe. My edition of the book came complete with maps, a helpful glossary, and thought-provoking discussion questions at the end. This memoir of Lauren St John’s life is heartfelt, and a noteworthy read. Recommended.

[literaryfeline · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lauren St John was born and raised in the African country of Rhodesia, in the country that would eventually become Zimbabwe. She was the forth generation living in Africa and yet she will never be considered as African because of the color of her skin. A child born into a culture and a society adopts the beliefs and values of that culture without much thought. The child is taught to believe and think in much the same way as his or her parents and the society he or she is exposed to. Lauren St John was no different. She is a fourth generation Rhodesian and Africa is very much her home. Rhodesia was in the middle of a Civil War during most of Lauren’s childhood. It was a way of life for Lauren, and she coped by turning the experience into an adventure of sorts. At one point in the book the author likened the war to being like "the Old West, where lone ranchers defended themselves against shadowy but well-armed assassins who came in deadly bands of three or six or ten." She further explained that it was nothing like the war in Vietnam or with tanks and explosions everywhere. Still, she did not see or experience the worst of the war, although there was still great risk and fear among the farmers in the area where Lauren grew up. The Rhodesians took precautions as necessary, but still held onto hope and a sense of safety, whether it was real or not. There was a sense of community and everyone looked out for one another.After several moves and new beginnings, Lauren’s family settled on a farm at Rainbow's End, a beautiful place that bordered on a river. From Lauren’s descriptions, it was an enchanting place that attracted all sort of wildlife and was full of happy memories. Yet there was a shadow that hung over Rainbow's End. Several months before Lauren and her family moved into the farmhouse, four members of the Forrester family were murdered in that house by terrorists in the night. One of the victims was an 11-year-old boy whom Lauren sat next to in school. It was his room she would later occupy. The constant fear that terrorists would return and kill her family lived with Lauren throughout the rest of the war.Despite the grimness of the war, Lauren led a relatively happy childhood, taking in animals of all kinds. Lauren was very much a tomboy and preferred to live her life on the edge, taking risks and trying to keep up with the boys. She enjoyed the same dreams that many young people have, dreaming of fame and recognition. Like her father, Lauren was in love with Africa and felt pride in her country. Although she did not fully understand everything about the war effort, she knew that her side was fighting for democracy and opposed to communism. Her side was the good side. Or so she thought.It was not until the end of the war that much of what Lauren believed about the war, the cause and the motives, suddenly came crashing down. Her reality was shaken to its core. And as all she knew and thought about her country was brought into question, her family also began to disintegrate.There is no pot of gold to be found at the end of Rainbow's End. As the war came to an end, people around the globe cheered and the majority in Zimbabwe celebrated an end to oppression. No one could foresee the direction elected officials would take the country in the years to come. The once lauded leader, President Mugabe, would eventually begin his own reign of terror, one that to this day includes allegations of fraud, violent repression, and murder. I came away feeling a great sadness for the people of Zimbabwe and all they have had to suffer at the hands of bad leadership, be it the white oppressors or the black. Lauren's words painted an amazingly beautiful picture of a land and its people while at the same time, capturing the tragedy of war, regardless of the side a person is on. The book is above all Lauren St John’s story and that of her family during a tumultuous time in Zimbabwe’s history. It is a story that captures the essence of a girl who survived the best way she could, finding normalcy and courage in a difficult environment, always adapting as needed to the events in her life. The Rainbow’s End will make a perfect discussion book for book clubs and is one that inspires further research into the history of Zimbabwe, including the struggle of the freedom fighters and the political leaders, both past and present.