The White Masai

The story of a Swiss woman who goes to Kenya, falls in love with a Masai warrior, and moves there to live with him, The White Masai is also a story of love, cross-culture marriage, life in an African village, and domestic abuse.

I started off with disliking the author a little. She was extremely mean to her Swiss boyfriend and dumps him unceremoniously for a Masai man. It is also a little weird how she gets obsessed with a man she knows nothing about. Call her silly and obsessive, or naive and innocent, Corinne does manage to find the Masai and he reciprocated her feelings. The other thing that annoyed me is that she continuously refers to Lketinga as 'my Masai' as if he were some object she had purchased. The 'my darlings' also began to show more grate on my nerves after a point.

But in spite of this, I began to warm up to her. Once the initial lust is satiated, she does genuinely fall in love and tries against all odds to keep the relationship going. She is the only person who actually treats the Masai with basic human respect. Both the white tourists and the local blacks act as if they are automatically criminals, and Corinne gains my respect by standing up for them. She is a wonderful businesswoman and actually started three successful businesses in Africa, only to lose them for lack of a reliable partner. Hofmann is incredibly resilient and nothing fazes her - malaria, hepatitis, living in a small hut and carrying many litres water from the river everyday. Nothing! As the story progressed, I began to sympathise with her and admire her more and more.

While Corinne is busy trying to make a living and make her relationship work, her husband, Lketinga wanders aimlessly about the place, being completely useless. He does not work to feed his family, no sir! Other tribals who herd animals work hard over the day and enjoy with other people in the evenings, but Lketinga seems to spend most of his time attending weddings and doing nothing constructive. That is, when he is not chewing miraa or drinking beer. He is sulky most of the time if things don't go his way. Not to mention, he is as dumb as a brick. No, dumber! He makes illogical decisions in the business, throws tantrums at customers and behaves atrociously at the hired workers. Gradually, he becomes more and more abusive to Corinne and keeps insinuating that she is being unfaithful and going off into fits of rage and disappears for days on end.

The book is really compelling and kept me hooked till the end. I was rooting for Corinne as she went from strength to strength. Apart from Corinne, the other people I really liked in the book are Lketinga's mother - a wise and wonderful woman. James, Lketinga's brother, is an example of a Masai man who is nice, and I really liked him. It would be interesting to know he he fared in life. I also liked Father Guilio though I generally don't have much time for missionaries. There is much to learn and enjoy in here! Don't read this book if you are expecting a love story. Read this book if you want a gritty account of life in Africa under extreme conditions of poverty. Read it for a description of how domestic abuse starts and spirals out of control without you even realize. show less

A poignant read for me as this is the last book I purchased for my mother. I am happy that it was a fascinating read, although I did become frustrated with the author and her decisions at times.
Corinne Hoffman is a 27 year old Swiss woman when she arrives in Kenya with her boyfriend, for a holiday. She becomes besotted with a Masai man and breaks off her relationship with her boyfriend. She returns to Kenya to pursue and win his affections. She overlooks the obvious distinctions, not only race but his lack of education and very different cultural outlook, thinking that their love/passion will overcome all hurdles.
The descriptions of her life in a very primitive village are very frank and eye-opening. The contrast to western life is show more quite shocking and the reader follows in horror some of her experiences but it is the gradual break down of their relationship that finally breaks her will to stay.
I look forward to continuing this series although I suspect they won't be as gripping as this first book. show less

This is a memoir of a “hit-by-a-truck-in-LUV” Swiss/German woman and the Masai warrior she lusts after. Despite her protestations of love (both she for him, and he for her), there is no love here. Love requires knowing one another and mutual respect. She’s just infatuated.

She spends the first third of the book telling us over and over how handsome “my Masai” is, despite his occasional bouts of moodiness. She spends the middle detailing all the problems they have getting the paperwork done for … a car, a shop, a passport, a marriage. The last third is her bemoaning her own stupidity as she realizes she has married a lazy, alcoholic, mental case and is reduced to sobs every other page.

PUHLEEZE!

Yet, this horror is strangely show more compelling. I give it 2 stars for keeping me turning pages. show less

I've read 83 pages. Out of 307. That will have to be enough.

This book is the testimony of a young Swiss woman, who narrates her own story. She's a victim of 'love at first sight' with a Masai tribesman whom she sees across a crowded room whilst on holiday in Kenya with her boyfriend. She gives up everything to be with this man and join his tribal existence.

While the accounts of life with the Masai are interesting, and while Hoffman is undoubtedly brave, I became increasingly irritated by her. Hoffman seems to be the victim of a lustful crush. She pursues her 'warrior' as she calls him, with an intensity that shows little understanding of him, or his culture. She's willing to live with him in his village, but seems to have litle show more inkling of the impact her appearance in his community has on either him or his community.

I've skipped to the end. I know it will all end in tears. I just don't want to spend any more time in Corinne Hoffman's company to find out where and how it all goes horribly wrong. show less

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 show more 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. show less

It's fragmented in the beginning, I think this works out with the fact that she was learning English, but it does start to flow better as the story continues. I think the author wrote this to be a love story, but it's a train wreck all the way through and I couldn't help thinking, "noooooo, what are you doing?" And apparently everyone else told her this too.
Corinne goes to Kenya with her boyfriend, sees a Masai and thinks she's instantly in love with him. She ends her life in Switzerland to be with this Masai.
In this culture the men own their wives and children. The women do all the work and when she buys a car, the tribe feels it belongs to them all.
I'm not sure if the author wrote the book as a love story, but as an independent show more woman it was hard for me to grasp why she would do what she did and didn't feel it was a love story at all, but more like a train wreck. show less

I was fascinated by the people in this book, though at heart it speaks to the feeling in all women that love will defy all boundaries, and that we can change our men. This is, for the most part, wrong. Don't try.

However, it was the descriptions of the country that made me yearn for Eastern Africa in ways you cannot imagine if you haven't been there yet. There is simply something about that continent that grabs you by the heart. When she wrote in the first few chapters about the way in which the country immediately took her and wouldn't let go, I couldn't stop thinking about the way Tanzania did the same thing to me.

In any case, despite the beautiful way Corinne Hofmann describes the country, the way her husband treats her and the manner show more in which she is forced to live is horrific to those of us living in the Western World. I don't want to give too much away, but she puts up with far too much before she finally escapes. In the end, while I was happy that she got away, the book ended so abruptly that the ultimate conclusion wasn't entirely satisfying. show less