The Color of the Elephant

Book excerpt: An outstanding new voice in memoir, Christine Herbert takes the reader on a "time-machine tour" of her Peace Corps volunteer service as a health worker and educator from 2004-2006 in Zambia. Rather than a retrospective, this narrative unfolds in the present tense, propelling the reader alongside the memoirist through a fascinating exploration of a life lived "off the grid." At turns harrowing, playful, dewy-eyed and wise, the author's heart and candor illuminate every chapter, whether she is the heroine of the tale or her own worst enemy. Even at her most petulant, the laugh-out-loud humor scuppers any "white savior" mentality and lays bare the undeniable humanity-and humility-of the storyteller. Through it all, an undeniable love for Zambia-its people, land and culture-shines through. A must-read for the armchair adventurer, a book about Zambia - a personal Peace Corps Memoir.