The Dust Diaries (2004)

by Owen Sheers

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
78	5	342,203	(3.55)	2
When Owen Sheers discovers a book in his father's study he stumbles upon the life of an obscure relative: Arthur Cripps, lyric poet and maverick missionary to Rhodesia. Compelled by the description of Cripps' extraordinary life in Africa, Sheers embarks on a journey through contemporary Zimbabwe in an attempt to better understand his ancestor's devotion to the country and its people and the dramatic, often bloody, differences that echo across the years.… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

RuthMurdoch, SJL2149, davidconner, jose.pires, BobUpBooks, alo1224, TonyLloyd

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 2 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 5 of 5

Wonderful, poetic, and sensitive biography of Owen’s great uncle Arthur Shearly Cripps, the radical missionary, who was hated by the Rhodesians for his ‘kaffir’ loving attitude towards land and development.

I was going to give 4 and a half stars, but then… I do not know how to improve this book – it is beauty in words. It made me cry. It is superb in describing the sounds and the fall of light of present day Zimbabwe. It is full of crisp, flawed, emotionally charged characters whose conflicted inner life is reflected so well in brief, imagined snap shots. (

)

alexbolding | Oct 2, 2021 |

Zimbabwe

oirm42 | May 25, 2018 |

I loved this, reading about not just Arthurs journey, but Owens too, as he unravels the stories. Genteel and poetic it was a marvelous read from a gifted writer. I was with Arthur and his shuffling feet as he made his journeys along the dust tracks. I have recommended this book to lots of people. (

)

frannypatter | Jun 27, 2009 |

Fictionalized biography of Arthur Shearly Cripps, 1869-1952, an Anglican priest who left England as a missionary to Southern Rhodesia. (

)

markon | Jul 9, 2008 |

I have read and enjoyed this book twice. (

)

CynthiaScott | Feb 3, 2010 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 5 of 5

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (1 possible)

▾Series and work relationships

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Wales Book Of The Year (Winner – English Fiction – 2005)

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

The Dust Diaries

Original title

The Dust Diaries

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To Arthur and in memory of Leonard Mamvura.

First words

Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Prologue
December 2000
Mpandi was one of the Shona names given to my great, great uncle, Arthur Shearly Cripps, Independent Missionary to Southern Rhodesia.

It is dawn in the African bush.

Quotations

Last words

Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Bernieres, Louis de

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

When Owen Sheers discovers a book in his father's study he stumbles upon the life of an obscure relative: Arthur Cripps, lyric poet and maverick missionary to Rhodesia. Compelled by the description of Cripps' extraordinary life in Africa, Sheers embarks on a journey through contemporary Zimbabwe in an attempt to better understand his ancestor's devotion to the country and its people and the dramatic, often bloody, differences that echo across the years.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary