The Baobab Retreat by Kate Frost
Engaging, Entertaining, Adventurous
Contemporary Fiction/Romance/Family Drama
Connie has fled to the safety of her Aunt Bella’s hotel in Tanzania following the worst twelve months of her life. She needed to escape the proximity to her soon-to-be ex-husband and the ever present reminders of what her life could have been. She tells Bella that she has not just come for a holiday, she wants to work whilst she is there to earn her keep. Her Aunt is insistent that she enjoy her time there first, and so she takes advantage of all there is to see and do across Bella’s business empire. After relocating with Bella to her larger holiday resort by the beach, she starts her new role of Guest Advisor. However, she is greatly unsettled by one unexpected guest, an encounter which she handles badly and damages a professional relationship that could have developed into more. Bella sends Connie to look at a new hotel and resort premises, but on her return, Bella informs that she has received a telephone call from her brother, Connie’s father, and he wants her to return to the UK, where she discovers a long held secret in the midst of the worse circumstances, that threatens to rock the foundations of her world and change her relationships with her immediate family forever.
This is now my sixth book by Kate Frost. I enjoy the insight that her books and writing give with regards to different locations, and this book seemed very different to her others that I have read so far, being set in Africa. Her writing is vividly descriptive and you can actually picture the white sand and clear blue sea or the African plains on Safari. In fact, I had a picture in my head for everywhere that the main character was. The narrative particularly hit differently for me when Connie was requested to return home by her father and how they impacted on the main character. For me, it felt like the twist in this book made more of an impact because of the different environments, her parents home being so rooted to her younger self, and not a place where she was most at ease compared to her Aunt’s home where she is happy and relaxed, showing both sides of Connie. Her time in the UK also allows the author to widen her cast of characters and for the reader to get to know the people with whom she has grown up with, and therefore more about her. I was particularly struck by the Author’s interpretation of how an ordinary everyday scene can quickly become chaotic when a child is present, when Connie goes to visit her friend Charlotte whilst back in the UK. The creation of Charlotte’s son, Arthur and the difficulties that were demonstrated in attempting to have a conversation whilst having a toddler around were deftly illustrated. I have attempted many times to have conversations with friends who are mums to small children, and the narrative voice in my head connected to that scene perfectly. I like that Kate Frost gives the same importance to her side characters which Charlotte is, as she does to her characters who are central to the storyline. Kate’s dialogue for each of the individuals within her novels flawlessly put across their different temperaments and this book is no exception from the grumpy, introvertedness of Connie’s father differing from the warmness and caring nature of Bella to the cheeky, flirtatious and laddish ways of Jamil. 
When Connie receives the confusing and devastating bombshell that initially blows her world apart, I did have an idea as to the explanation, but nevertheless thought this a really good twist to follow a few other developments that had already played out and the reader is currently (well I was) wondering how those events will be affected by her having to return home.
As always, Kate Frost presents us with a lively and diverse range of likeable characters with the exception of maybe one or two, created purely to cause conflict, create suspense or change the feel of the narrative. The ending was a totally heart-warming surprise, and was I thought, a lovely way to conclude Connie’s story. I will be continuing with Kate’s books, particularly as it is now winter in the UK and I need to be mentally transferred to sunnier climes. 
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