Leaving Before the Rains Come (Fuller) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Much of Leaving Before the Rains Come concerns itself with the familial histories of both Fuller and her husband (whose background, amazingly, almost equals Fuller’s in its extraordinariness). Consequently, the book is longer and more diverting than in a sense it ought to be, while at the same time the incompatibility of these two narratives...creates a sense of uneasiness at its core.... Fuller is far from depleted: This book perhaps marks the beginning of her journey toward an unassailable possession of mind, and toward a new kind of freedom.
Rachel Cusk - New York Times Book Review


I've loved Alexandra Fuller's other books, particularly Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, a rich, marvelous memoir brimming with details of her romantic Rhodesian upbringing, and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, which traced her mother's history. But Leaving Before the Rains Come, the story of her crumbling marriage, is even better than those two books, one of the gutsiest memoirs I've ever read. And the writing—oh my God, the writing. It's more than a little daunting to review a book so gorgeously wrought that you stop, time and again, just to marvel at the language (Grade A).
Entertainment Weekly


In her newest memoir, Fuller insightfully explores the contrasts between the different landscapes [of Africa and America's West] and their corresponding mind-sets.... [T]his book also attempts to tackle...a sad, drawn-out divorce.... [T]he rich narration of Fuller’s upbringing, sensibility, and loneliness make clear that she remains one of the most gifted and important memoirists of our time.
Publishers Weekly


In books like her award-winning debut, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller gives us an indelible portrait of Africa as it has defined her personal life. Here she continues in that vein, detailing the breakup of her marriage to an American she met in Zambia, where he ran a rafting business.
Library Journal


Powerful, raw, and painful, Fuller’s writing is so immediate, so vivid that whether she’s describing the beauty of Zambia or the harrowing hours following a devastating accident, she leaves the reader breathless. Another not-to-be-missed entry from the gifted Fuller.
Booklist


[A] wry, forthright and captivating memoir. The focus is on the slow unraveling of her marriage to a man [Fuller] thought would save her from her family's madness and chaos.... [F]inancial pressures...and her own loneliness gradually took a toll.... To reclaim her life, she insisted on divorce.... Fuller's talent as a storyteller makes this memoir sing.
Kirkus Reviews