The “Terrible Loneliness”: Loneliness and Worry in Settler Women’s Memoirs from East and South-Central Africa, 1890-1939

Abstract

Descriptions of loneliness and worry fill settler women’s memoirs from British Africa. Despite this prevalence, scholars rarely discuss such emotions at length. This paper explores the themes of loneliness and worry in the memoirs of female settlers from British East and South-Central Africa, 1890-1939. The majority are drawn from Kenya and Rhodesia, and include authors such as Karen Blixen,
Elspeth Huxley, Hylda Richards, Jessie Currie, Ruth Fisher, and Mathilde Goy. Unpacking through a close textual analysis what women meant by loneliness and worry, and how they explained those feelings, this paper positions loneliness and worry as crucial aspects of settler women’s colonial memoirs and a defining feature of their experiences of British Africa.