num_pages: 344
description: After his father's heart attack in 1984, Peter Godwin began a series of pilgrimages back to Zimbabwe, the land of his birth, from Manhattan, where he now lives. On these frequent visits to check on his elderly parents, he bore witness to Zimbabwe's dramatic spiral downwards into the jaws of violent chaos, presided over by an increasingly enraged dictator. And yet long after their comfortable lifestyle had been shattered and millions were fleeing, his parents refuse to leave, steadfast in their allegiance to the failed state that has been their adopted home for 50 years. Then Godwin discovered a shocking family secret that helped explain their loyalty. Africa was his father's sanctuary from another identity, another world.WHEN A CROCODILE EATS THE SUN is a stirring memoir of the disintegration of a family set against the collapse of a country. But it is also a vivid portrait of the profound strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.
language: English
title: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa
titlecomplete: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa
characters: Robert Mugabe, Ian Smith, Peter Godwin
genres: Autobiography, History, Travel, Biography Memoir, Africa, Biography, Zimbabwe, Memoir, Nonfiction, Politics
ratings_count: 8885
places: Zimbabwe, Rhodesia
awards: awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Borders Original Voices Award
category: Nonfiction
publisher: Little, Brown and Company