On the other hand, the Happy Valley set were held in contempt by government officials in Kenya precisely because they acted as if unaware of their ‘responsibility’ to educate and lead the Africans by example. As I have Nicolas comment, if white culture were seen to fall short, the Africans might not accept its “superiority”. Codes of behaviour were to be followed when coming across Africans in a social setting, and every opportunity to prevent this from happening seems to have been taken, such as creating whites-only spaces (social clubs such as The Muthaiga were a prime example of this). The Happy Valley set openly flouted the codes with their drinking, fighting, torrid affairs, and general bad behaviour. It seemed to me the perfect situation to explore corruption and resistance, and thus Theo and Maud were born.

Some of the details I came across in my research seemed ready-made for fiction. There was a real life instance (although not in Kenya) of a woman being shot while reading, and the bullet penetrating her book; Josslyn Hay really did have a chimp who smoked cigarettes and drank water from an enamel chamber pot; the sex games at Kirlton are all examples of those that Idina (a model for Edie) and Josslyn Hay played with their guests; and stories about the King of the Wa-Kikuyu, ‘Black Harries’ – who is so cavalier about the lives of his horses – and the unfortunate surveyor who was taken by a python when swimming, are all true (or reported as such). Secondary characters such as Delamere, Gwladys, Carberry and Kiki Preston, and all the various pets, have retained their own names. Of course, there is no evidence to suggest that a teenage boy was befriended by the set.

I also changed key dates and events for various reasons. Unlike Freddie, Josslyn Hay’s body was found in his Buick in the early morning of January 24, 1941; he had been shot at close range. The papers were quick to suggest a love triangle between Hay, Diana Broughton and her older husband, Sir Delves Broughton. Scandal ensued, somewhat embarrassingly for the white community, who probably felt the shooting did nothing to improve their public image. Broughton was suspected, as was Alice de Janzé. There was even a theory that Hay’s killing had been authorised by the British government, who were uneasy about his ties to Oswald Mosley and to the BUF. Broughton was arrested, and after a lengthy trial, acquitted. The murder remains unsolved to this day.

Acknowledgements