Book 175: eSwatini (English) – The Giraffe Stepped over the Fence (Storm JAMES)

Inconceivable as it seemed, this towering, glowering hulk of manhood must really love her. Within twenty-four hours of meeting her, he had declared his intentions, openly, without hesitation or doubt, yet she had disbelieved him. She had believed that, especially for men, love grew over time and it was sexual attraction that came first and occasionally developed into love. In actual fact, it was she who had concentrated on the sexual attraction, she who had feared losing him if she didn’t fulfil his sexual desires. Lacking love for herself, she had been unable to comprehend his love for her. Despite all her efforts, her perspective had been warped by her upbringing.

Firstly, an admission and an apology – romance isn’t my favourite genre. This one by Storm James, who was born and now lives in South Africa but grew up in Swaziland, recently re-named eSwatini, is set in those two countries in the 1970s. Forward farm girl Shanna, who had been abused by her awful father, falls in love with a handsome (of course) Frenchman who gets stranded on her farm. She is cynical about men but not TOO cynical (after all, this is a romance…) There is a mystery to solve and a lot of adventure.

No doubt kids grow up much faster on farms, but I felt that Shanna was much too mature for her age. Do 17-year-olds really talk like this?

            ”Your ethical stance is based on human constructs you were born into. But I do not have suitable role models, so I have sought my truths and standards from various cultures, from reading and observing life as it really is – not as some culture, philosophy or religion dictates life should be. I cannot believe or simply accept human constructs, just because they exist.”

Nor does Marco Bonheur (’Happiness’) talk like a believable Frenchman, despite peppering his English with unnecessary tidbits of French, like Poirot: “Un mille pardons, mademoiselle!” [sic.] At p.289 he is still using the ‘vous’ form to his sweetheart. There are other minor mistakes, such as the ‘Alpha’ that Shanna drives (presumably an Alfa Romeo), and King Sobhuza I died in 1836, not 1936. On the whole though, it isn’t too bad for a self-published book.

A lot of Swazi history is peppered through the story, though it wasn’t sewn into the story very well. At one point they are in the middle of a dance when a father feels the need to start expounding some Swazi history to his son… Often the history interludes are launched into without any prelude. But it was quite interesting, for me at least. The author’s love for this country is obvious.

Although the title is explained, as the direct approach being the best way to get your girl, it seems to be rather contradicted by the factoid given that most giraffes are homosexual…

This romance was much better than I expected (mainly because I learned so much about eSwatini), though I felt it was too long (at 480 pages) and perhaps too laden with adjectives; still, don’t let this put you off if this is your type of story.

The book was billed as Book 1 of the “Romantic Africa Series”, but as far as I can tell the second volume (subtly entitled The Lion Breached the Barrier) has not been published yet.

JAMES, Storm, The Giraffe Stepped Over the Fence, Book 1 of the Romantic Africa series, Smashwords, 2012, ISBN 978-0-620-53156-8