Dear Richard

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you - I’ve been in the Lake District all week, and thus out of email contact. Thanks for being so kind about my piece, it’s much appreciated. This novel-writing lark is much more ego-bruising than I thought it would be.

So, the “Only in Africa” reading test: I have to confess that I deliberately made it harder after I received my first few reviews, because one reviewer (a) plainly hadn’t read it properly and (b) gave me really low marks, the combination of which irritated me no end. That said, 6 people have passed it since then. If it’s OK with you, I’d like to run through the questions, and see if we can unravel what happened. I’d be very grateful to know what you thought of each one, and which ones were too obscure. Reviewers like you are exactly the kind of reviewers I want to encourage, for obvious reasons.

When I wrote the test, I went with the principle that if a detail is mentioned twice, or is important for characterization and/or plot, then it could be included.

1) Al-Kitabu’s profession - he’s a bookseller. Mentioned when he’s introduced, and again when it says that Ahmed likes reading books, and again when Ahmed reads about mongooses.

2) Who the boat belongs to - it’s shared equally by Al-Kitabu and Ahmed’s father, as Ahmed is told just before the massacre. This is only mentioned once, but (theoretically, at least) this detail is important because it’s the crucial point when Ahmed realises that his father has been lying to him, to stop him being frightened about the revolution. Or that was the idea - perhaps this is too obscure.

3) Andrew’s subject at university - maths - when he’s introduced at the airport, he’s thinking about theorems. He counts up points in his head, and he tells Sarah he’s doing maths at Trinity, Cambridge.

4) This question was about the custom when arriving at Maji-ya-Mlima; the answer was ‘washing your feet in the stream’. I admit this question is too obscure (only stated once, not relevant to the plot) and I’ve changed it.

5) During the volunteers’ first day at school, who does Mr Matachi, the deputy head, play his tricks on? - I can’t remember if this question was on the version of the test that you took, so apologies if it wasn’t. The answer is Will, as is illustrated by two of the vignettes in chapter two. Will tests Matachi by having Andrew say that he (Will) is taking over one of Jake's lessons. When Matachi realises he is sabotaging Jake and not Will, he stops and apologises.

I hope it doesn’t matter that I’ve just given out the answers to my reading test - I’m gambling that people who trawl through the forums are not the kind of people who cheat on the reading tests, and vice-versa. (If you’re reading this, and you’re not called Richard, yes I am talking about you, please be honest. Thanks!)

This post has turned into a mini-essay - I apologise - if you don’t have the time to respond, I quite understand. But if you could advise me on how to improve the test, I’d be very grateful. I’d also appreciate any further words of advice you might have - some people think the pace of chapter two is too jerky and fast, and doesn’t allow people to ‘settle into Africa’, and I am trying to decide if I agree with them or not.

Many thanks for your review.

Yours sincerely,

Sam

Hi Richard

Many thanks for your feedback - I’ll certainly have a rethink about those two questions. I’m still kicking myself for missing out on your review, because at the moment I am languishing at #19, without any real prospect of rising much higher.

About your last point - what the hell, I might as well tell you - I’m 23.

Thanks for your help, it’s really appreciated.

Yours

Sam