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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Monkeys in my Garden: Unbelievable but true stories of my life in Mozambique
|author=Valerie Pixley
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=From London to Portugal to Mozambique, Valerie Pixley and her husband O'D have led an interesting life. Her account of their various madcap adventures is by turns funny, frightening and enlightening. Valerie Pixley popped into Bookbag Towers to [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Valerie Pixley|chat to us]].
|rating=3.5
|buy=Yes
|date=July 2013
|isbn=B00DUF1LXM
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>B00DUF1LXM</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=<amazonus>B00DUF1LXM</amazonus>|videoaznus=B00DUF1LXM
}}
Pixley has a sprawling, meandering style. It's as if you are sitting around chatting together and the conversation often takes a detour or two. This makes for a comfortable, relaxing read - even though events are often far from relaxing! - but I should say that it also means some chapters lose a bit of focus and forget where they're going. You might need to bear with her a bit but she does get there in the end.
Most of all, though, ''Monkeys in my Garden'' tells the story of a life lived to the full, sometimes for good, sometimes for unintended ill, and it's a hugely entertaining, vicarious read. It also raises important questions about environmentalism, corruption in developing countries and what we can or should do to help. But mostly, it's a personal memoir. Some people are just made to be larger than life. And the Pixleys are two of them.
For more African memoirs, you could also look at [[Man in a Mud Hut by Ian Mathie]] and [[Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa by Peter Godwin]]. You might also enjoy [[Child of the Jungle by Sabine Kuegler]], for which the setting is Papua New Guinea.
{{amazontext|amazon=B00DUF1LXM}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=B00DUF1LXM}} {{interviewtext|author=Valerie Pixley}}
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