Holiday Sale! Get an annual membership for 20% off!

Book Summary and Reviews of The Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie Ford

The Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie Ford

The Clouds Beneath the Sun

by Mackenzie Ford

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Jul 2010, 464 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

Mackenzie Ford (a nom de plume) was introduced to readers in 2009 with the publication of Gifts of War, which was praised in USA Today as "an absorbing, morally complex read." In a starred review, Library Journal said, "Ford keeps the reader on a knife’s edge as the lies build and the truth is only a word or misstep away. Highly recommended."

Now Ford takes us to Kenya in 1961. As a small plane carrying Natalie Nelson lands at a remote airstrip in the Serengeti, Natalie knows she’s run just about as far as she can from home. Trained as an archeologist, she accepted an invitation to be included in a famous excavating team, her first opportunity to escape England and the painful memories of her past.

But before she can get her bearings, the dig is surrounded by controversy involving the local Masai people—and murder. Compounding the tension, Eleanor Deacon, friend of the Masai, who is leading the excavating mission, watches a rift grow between her two handsome sons. Natalie’s growing attraction to Jack Deacon soon becomes a passionate affair that turns dangerous when she must give evidence in a trial that could spark even more violence and turmoil.

The startling beauty of the Kenyan setting, the tension of loom­ing social upheaval, and the dizzying highs and crushing lows of a doomed love affair are all captured brilliantly on every page of this extraordinary and utterly unforgettable novel.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Complicated parent-child relationships and sibling rivalries add to the complexity of this story, making it ripe for sophisticated book groups. Highly recommended." - Library Journal

This information about The Clouds Beneath the Sun was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Barbara S. (Brick, NJ)

Tell Me More
This is my first book trip to Kenya and it leaves me with a longing for more tales of the Maasai and their culture. Ordinarily I would not search for a book about archaeology but found this book utterly fascinating. The author transports you to the dig location, Kihara gorge, and paints a perfect picture even though I have never seen one. The story tied in beautifully with the setting. If you have a "passion" in life, this book is for you. I am adding this to my Book Club selections for 2011.

Susan B. (Coventry, RI)

The Clouds Beneath the Sun
I began reading this book while I was in the middle of another novel that I was enjoying; I thought I would read them concurrently. Surprise! Once I began "The Clouds Beneath the Sun" I couldn't put it down! The setting of an archeological dig in East Africa was unfamiliar to me but it was well-described. While controversy about the dig is getting more involved, the book begins to deal with the lives of the main characters and it becomes a love story. This is definitely a book you won't be able to put down!

Shirley D. (Amherst, MA)

The Clouds Beneath The Sun
A good read! The writing is excellent. The characters were of immediate interest and the setting so skillfully done, I wasn’t aware how much I was learning about Kenya. As for the plot, I found it a “page turner.” I felt it a privilege to read and review this novel.

Sandra G. (Middleton, WI)

Hard to put down!
The back cover says this is "an irresistible page-turner of forbidden love on the wild plains of East Africa." This novel is FAR more than a love story! (The love story doesn't begin until page 330!) I was drawn in after reading three pages. The descriptions of the Maasai, the wildlife, and the Kihara Gorge area all contributed to a strong sense of place. The multi-layered plot kept my interest throughout. I agree that is is "an irresistible page turner."

Anna R. (Oak Ridge, TN)

Amazing Story
This book has it all; mystery, history, jealously,murder and a love story. I learned about Kenya working toward independence and about archaeology. The character development is fantastic and the story grabs you from page one.
The ending isn't what I expected. Wow. This is a great read!

Sue J. (Wauwatosa, WI)

An absorbing read.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Ford is a creative writer who has a talent for drawing good characters and giving a sense of what a dig in Kenya would really be like. This book was a page-turner for me and I had to hold myself back from peaking ahead to find out how everything comes out. Highly recommended!

...20 more reader reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Mackenzie Ford

Mackenzie Ford, author of Gifts of War, is the nom de plume of Peter Watson, a well-known and respected historian whose books are published in seventeen languages. He was educated at the Universities of Durham, London, and Rome, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous publications in the United Kingdom. Since 1998 he has been a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Everything We Never Had
    Everything We Never Had
    by Randy Ribay
    Francisco Maghabol has recently arrived in California from the Philippines, eager to earn money to ...
  • Book Jacket: The Demon of Unrest
    The Demon of Unrest
    by Erik Larson
    In the aftermath of the 1860 presidential election, the divided United States began to collapse as ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket
    The Avian Hourglass
    by Lindsey Drager
    It would be easy to describe The Avian Hourglass as "haunting" or even "dystopian," but neither of ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Book Jacket
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
Who Said...

Books are the carriers of civilization

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.