Back to the Bush: A Novel

By: James Hendry

Narrated by: James Hendry

Back to the Bush is the tale of a second year at Sasekile Private Game Reserve for brothers Angus and Hugh MacNaughton. Angus’s weekly journal recounts a positive beginning to the year: fastidious Hugh is in love, running his own camp and on the verge of a promotion. Angus is involved in a romantic liaison, which takes the edge off his customary cynicism, and for the first time in their adult lives, a positive fraternal bond exists between them.

Inevitably, reality comes calling. Angus’s love affair ends, Hugh becomes stratospherically arrogant, and Julia, the MacNaughtons’ sister, starts dating Angus’s nemesis – Alistair ‘the Legend’ Jones. Then there are a series of further ‘hiccups’, from demanding lodge guests and marauding monkeys, to a run-in with a blind-drunk head chef, a winter drought, a rogue elephant and the resignation of the sterling head ranger.

You are guaranteed to be entertained by the hilarious antics and hard knocks as well as the fierce beauty of the African landscape.

Loved the story

James Hendry, my daughter and I listened to your first book while travelling from Skukuza to Shingwedzi. We loved it and you made us cry. That said you had us hooked for the second book. We now gonna listen to your next one. Thank you and please keep on writing.

Another wonderful listen

I enjoyed every moment of the contuation of the adventures of Angus & company. All the characters came to life with the skill of James! I know them all and will miss them!

Great Story Telling

Another very entertaining and amusing story from the author. Little bits of everything to keep you listening while learning much about the African bush

The balance of drama and comedy is excellent!

I love James’ storytelling! I watched him on safaris and love that he throws his knowledge of what he tells of in this book!

Interesting. Funny and well-narrated.

This is the 2nd book in a series of 3. The first book, A Year in the Wild, was told in email format, which was fun and interesting. It was good, but it focused mostly on the immature antics of the brothers and co-workers which I found tiresome after awhile. Back to the Bush, the 2nd book, is told from the viewpoint of Angus, the older brother, who is evolving and now more fully developed; he's becoming an interesting guy. In general, the characters are much more 3-dimensional and a lot more is told about the bush and camp itself. I was better able to get into the events and characters, and found myself often laughing out loud. I loved the scenes where Angus describes his experiences in the bush, alone or on game drives. Some of the antics in the kitchen kept me chuckling. There are still some email correspondences, which are interesting, and there is more depth to many of the relationships. Having been to South Africa, I knew some of the areas and could picture some locations and events. The story made me long to return.
The author, James Hendry, narrates all the books himself; he does the different accents and does a great job. He's fun to listen to. If you've ever been on safari, would like to go, are interested in armchair traveling there, or just want a fun, destination-based book to read, this book is for you. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the next one.