First of all, what a beautiful cover. Second, I was all over this book having recently visited Kenya and loving the land, the animals and the people.

Being historical fiction we are introduced to Mary Leakey in the 1930's who became a famous paleoanthropologist. I won't tell you all about her discoveries, I'll let you discover that for yourself as you read this book! What a woman! I can't imagine what she was up against, 100 years ago.

Our second POV and time period is in the 1980's as Mary is still working in Tanzania and a young 17 year old girl comes to visit with her father as he works in the Olduvai Gorge (a famous archeological spot). This girl has struggled with great loss and in time she connects with Mary in a great way.

This story is methodical, and interesting. I absolutely loved the animals involved and the love of nature, respect for the land and an understanding of people shared. This book kept my attention throughout and I may secretly wish for the olden days when discoveries were "easier" to find?

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted e-ARC.

Penny Haw has created such a wonderfully reimagined historical fiction story in Follow Me to Africa. Reading this book with her real-life descriptions transports me immediately back to glorious Tanzania with the verdant Ngorongoro Crater plus the much starker, but historically vital, Olduvai Gorge. Her character development of Mary Leakey and Grace so quickly and thoroughly brings them to life in this amazing tale. Couldn’t put this one down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this beautiful ARC.

This novel centres around the fascinating story of Mary Leakey, one of the world’s most distinguished paleoanthropologists. Married to the famously charismatic Louis Leakey, Mary was more or less in his shadow when they began their work in Africa. However, with no tertiary education but armed with fierce dedication, conscientiousness and a love for Africa, Mary soon became a giant in her field.
In Follow me to Africa, Grace Clark, having recently lost her mother, unwillingly accompanies her father to Olduvai gorge, the site of Mary’s work. Gradually, as she becomes drawn in to helping Mary, Grace succumbs to the magic of the area, finds a deep love for its wildlife and becomes Mary’s protégé.
As the fictional story unfolds, we learn more of Mary’s fascinating background, her marriage to Louis and her subsequent discoveries. While this is a fictional story, and Grace is part of that fiction, author Penny Haw is true to the historical facts about Mary. Once again the author writes about a strong, influential woman who left her mark on this world.
This is a fascinating read about a remarkable woman, set in a remote part of Africa with its stark beauty and wildlife. Well worth a read.

“Follow Me To Africa” is a historical fiction book by Penny Haw. This book is told in two timelines - one following young (starting in the 1930s) Mary Leakey (nee Nicol) as she begins her “work life” as an illustrator very interested in paleontology. The second timeline (1980s) follows Grace, a 17-year-old teen who has, reluctantly, accompanied her estranged father on a dig in Africa. I found Ms. Haw’s idea of taking a frequently asked question (“what advice would you give your younger self?”) and tying that to the currently storyline via flashbacks in Mary’s life rather well done. I think Mary Leakey is often overshadowed by her husband’s work, but she did a lot to advance our knowledge of “early man” too. I found Mary’s storyline more interesting than the one with Grace, but Mary had a pretty interesting life. This book doesn’t only cover digs - there’s falling in love (with a place, a person, an animal), along with some heavier topics (divorce, estrangement), making hard decisions, and learning about life. I did like how Lisa, the cheetah, brought Mary and Grace together - and I would’ve liked a follow-up but that’s just me. Do read Ms. Haw’s Author’s Notes at the end of the book - it’s pretty interesting. I can see others enjoying this book -especially book club discussion groups - as there are quite a number of topics covered. And a shout-out for the cover - it’s very attractive and eye-catching.

My rating:

Plot: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4.5out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

General Fiction

Review:

What I like most about the book is the fact that this book tells the real life story of Mary Leakey and interweaves it with fictional elements. The story is cleverly told over a dual time line. The one starting in the 1930’s tells the story of Mary’s younger self and the one set in 1983 when she is seventy and meets Grace a young girl who seems to have a lot in common ground with Mary when she was younger and they become friends through their common love for animals.

The writing is vivid with the great attention to detail. The scenery really comes to live. It feels like you are actually there. This made the book very captivating and interesting. The main characters were interesting strong women and their actions explained well, this gave them a realistic feel.

Overall this is a captivating story full of love, for Africa, the beautiful nature and caring for animals. The friendship that develops between Mary and Grace helps to heal them both in a way. Very interesting and well written. I liked it a lot.

Review copy provided through Netgalley at no cost to me.

I do love a good historical fiction, and this one is no exception! Following a dual-POV split between the 1930s and 1980s, this novel follows two young women who both go on journeys of self-discovery as they venture into the world of paleoanthropology in Africa. Of note was how one of the main characters was based on world-renowned British paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey, which I thought was an amazing way to explore such themes and topics. This is a fantastic read, especially if you’re interested in all things history, culture, and self-reflection.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read the eARC early! This was one of my most anticipated books of 2025.

I really did enjoy this book and I love when historical fictions take a real life person from history and tell their story with some fictional elements added in.

The main character of this story is mostly Grace, a 17 year old girl who was brought by her father to Africa to work with Mary Leakey, a real life paleoanthropologist and our other main character.

The book is told from two POVs, from Grace's while she is with Mary and the other is Mary's POV as we learn about her history and how she came to be who she was.

I'll be honest. The character I was most invested in was Lisa, a cheetah who was released after being hand reared and came to Leakey's camp because she was struggling with taking care of herself and missed humans. Grace's love for Lisa and her affinity for animals after being a sad, lonely, and abandoned young girl is something I really felt for and could relate to.

There were a couple things I didn't like as much. I previously read The Invincible Miss Cust and the characters/story of that book really made me feel a rollercoaster of emotions in every direction. This book didn't quite get there for me. There were emotional moments that didn't exactly feel as though they dove deep enough. I did almost tear up a little with how Grace was talking about Lisa in one scene, but that was about it.

There were also two things at the end that I didn't vibe with as much. The ending felt a little abrupt because I was expecting at least another chapter or two to wrap something up.

Beautiful coming of age tale inspired by on the real life of Mary Leakey, one of the world's most distinguished paleoanthropologists. Historical fiction, dual timelines and dual pov
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for a review copy.

Follow Me to Africa is a dual timeline novel, exploring the life and journey of Mary Leakey. The novel goes between 1983, when Grace is forced to accompany her father on one of Dr. Leakey’s final digs and the 1930-60s as Mary carves out success as a paleoanthropologist despite having no formal education.


The novel had a slow start, the first 20% was sluggish but as the novel picked up steam and the characters of Grace and Mary began to emerge from the page, it sped up and I found it hard to put down. Usually in dual timelines, I find there’s one timeline I much prefer over the other but Haw managed to create two compelling stories that kept me engaged.

I love historical fiction based on real people, especially when I find myself reading more about the subjects. I definitely need to know more about Mary Leakey!

The reason this gets 4 instead of 5 stars is because I wanted the story to go just a little deeper. The emotional, hard hitting moments danced tantalizingly close to rawness but didn’t quite get there. The characters, the plot, and the setting all make this a worthwhile read - though I’d say it’s more of a summer book - something about reading about the overpowering sun on a cold November morning didn’t have the right vibes!

Follow Me to Africa is Penny Haw's third historically biographical fiction novel about about a real, trailblazing woman. As someone who minored in anthropology, it's probably the most appealing to me in that it's about Mary Leakey, one of the most well-known female anthropologists in the field. And Haw's research is impeccable, it felt like an easier read of information I'd learned about Leakey in my college textbooks years earlier. I really like that Haw takes the approach of following an unconventional woman as the focus of each of her books, and that the woman she chooses to focus on isn't someone necessarily associated with a well-known historical event, like say World War I or II. The readers of this story won't only get exposed to a unique career path, but a place that's rarely written about in historical fiction -Africa in the 1930s. As a novel that is more biographical in nature, the focus of this book isn't a major conflict Leakey has to overcome, or a romance story. She does fall in love with Louis Leakey, a very well-respected and well-known anthropologist in his own right. And this does cause conflict, because he's married and expecting a baby with his wife, leading the pair to be ostracized within their professional community. But it also leads them to Africa, where Mary really falls in love. Not with Louis, but with the land and her career path. This means her storyline is interesting, but rarely is it page-turning exciting. In this third book Haw also utilizes a dual time line that she hasn't in her previous books, incorporating a fictional Grace and her anthropologist father that join Mary Leakey on a dig in 1983, late in her professional career. In Grace's storyline her mother has died and she's at odds with a father she hasn't seen in years, resentful that he's pulled her out of England to the middle of nowhere. But a cheetah in need of help and a cantankerous old anthropologist might just give her some clarity in her life. Haw incorporated this storyline because Leakey has published works, including a memoir and she wanted to envision how Leakey would interact with a younger version of herself in Grace while relatively late in life. I understand her decision to do this, but still tend to prefer a single storyline that focuses on a real life person without a fictional person in a more recent timeline incorporated. It was still incredibly exciting to see a book centered around a real female anthropologist though! A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My sort of book. I love HF that takes a little known character and brings them to life. It's particularly good when women who should be better known are the protagonist. Mary Leakey springs to life from the page, both as a young and much older woman and learning about her career in male dominated archaeology was fascinating. Well written and clever. I enjoyed the sub pot of the bereaved young girl but for me it was mary's story that shone out.

Just finished this amazing adventure of Mary Leakey.
This is one of those stories that will make you keep thinking about the characters long afterwards.
However; in this case I was left thinking about the Serengheti and it's animals. Such a wild and fascinating place. I didn't want to leave!
I learned quite a lot from Mary Leakey. She's a fascinating person and her determination to be what she really wanted to do. I had to look her up as I've never heard of her.
Lisa the cheetah was easy to fall in love with. I love the big cats. I love how she fends for herself in one scene. Cheetahs are the fastest cat in Africa.
I didn't want to leave Africa. It was so beautiful!
There's even a bit of romance in this story which blended well.
I'm a dual time line fan so I was kind of ok with it. In my opinion, it would have read straight through better with a brief explanation of why and how she became a palentologist/archeologist.
5 stars from me for the beautiful description and for keeping my interest all the way through.
I highly recommend.
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

Follow me to Africa by Penny Haw

This solid four star book follows the career path of Dr. Mary Leakey, wife of famed archeologist Louis Leakey. Mary had an equally stunning career, though not formally educated. In love with Africa from the start, she stood her ground as a respected paleoanthropologist and companion of Louis.

This story added fictional Grace, a teenager who comes with her estranged father to Mary’s dig in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Her father George hopes to restore his relationship with an angry Grace. Mary Leakey sees many commonalities with Grace and helps to steer her in the right direction.

It’s a story of love, relationships, archeological digs, animals, career paths, dedication, and, of course, Africa. I recommend this story for all historical fiction lovers, but especially those with an interest in the Leakeys and Africa.

Follow Me to Africa is a historical novel based on the life of Mary Leakey, one of the 20th century's leading paleoanthropologists. The book is set up as a dual timeline; Mary's story from 1930-1983 alternates with the story of Grace, a young woman who follows her father to Leakey's camp in 1983. Grace is completely fictional, and it seems as though the device of creating a young, troubled girl for Mary to mentor is written to allow Mary to expound on the lessons she has learned and to wrap up her life and work.

The author does a wonderful job at presenting the beauty and mystery of the African landscape and the creatures that live there. More than once I had to leave the book to look up information or images because the material was so fascinating. That said, the one thing that bothered me about the book was the lack of detail about Leakey's work or paleoanthropology in general. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Mary basically walked around until she saw something interesting, then dug a bit and pulled it out of the ground like a potato. In reality, I know that the field is enormously complex and difficult, and involves many specialized techniques to ensure the safety of the artifact being excavated. Instead, the author chooses to spend more time on Mary and Louis's courtship and marriage and Grace's involvement with trying to save an endangered cheetah. A good story, but I wanted more detail on the digs themselves, the artifacts (which remain some of the most important finds in the field) and Mary's innovative sorting system. Still, the story as presented is interesting, readable, and engaging.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks/Landmark and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think fans of historical dramas will enjoy FOLLOW ME TO AFRICA. Mary Leakey is well-known in some circles but others are not familiar with her. Readers in both groups should find much to admire.

There are two timelines, and Mary appears in both, both as a young girl and as a seventy-year-old. I'm not sure this construct was necessary, but I know some readers are fans of dual timelines.

While I enjoyed the novel very much, I'll confess that Grace's narrative seemed a bit forced. She seemed younger than 17, and I felt she was present merely as a device. She did not necessarily comes across like a real multi-dimensional person.

I enjoyed how Mary and Grace join together to save Lisa. Grace also matures as the story progresses, especially as Mary shares her wisdom.

The reveal of the big secret adds a layer of intrigue.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

This is a beautifully crafted and fascinating historical fiction story based on the life of Mary Leakey, one of the world’s most renowned paleoanthropologist. She led an unusual life and had very little formal education, yet was granted a number of honorary doctorates for her impressive field work. She had a sharp mind and eye for detail and had a gift of drawing the items she saw. She was employed to do some illustrations for archaeologist Louis Leakey for his book. But a romance developed between them. This was a problem as he was married with a child and pregnant wife. The scenes of encounter between these three were quite harrowing, as one would expect, but Penny Haw handles it all with skill and understanding. Eventually Mary joins Louis on his next adventures to the beautiful Tanzania in East Africa where her second love blossoms. Olduvai Gorge captures her heart, lock stock and barrel.

Mary’s love of archaeology was inspired by her father’s interest in it. On top of this, she had a keen curiosity and this drove her to learn all she could about the past. When questioned by seventeen year old Grace, about its importance, she says that she believes it is impossible to know everything but it doesn’t mean she does not want to try. And then says this is why the career she has chosen is perfect for her as her curiosity will never be satisfied. There is quite a profound nugget of truth in this revelation. For it means she will never get bored with her profession. It will never lose its sparkle as there will always be potential endless discoveries. Thus, she will be part of a never ending story.

Although this novel is inspired by Mary Leakey’s life, there is more. The author created two timelines with Mary in both. One with her younger self in the 1930s and the other in 1983 when she is seventy. In the 1983 thread, fictional character Grace (along with her parents) is cleverly added to the narrative to help tell Mary’s story. There are a few parallels between Grace and a younger Mary. Grace is a teenager who has lost her mother and is now on a dig with her once estranged father in Tanzania working under Mary. It is here Grace’s common interests with the older woman, shared losses and vibrant passion for animals becomes visible. A hand raised female cheetah turned out into the wild becomes injured. Hungry and thirsty, she finds her way to their site. Together Grace and Mary work to save Lisa (the cat). (The cat’s name has an interesting background but I will leave that for readers to discover.) During this time, Grace learns a lot about herself, her abilities and the direction she wants to take in her life. Mary is often lending valuable advice to her when asked. Much of her input had me nodding in agreement because it is wisdom that only experience and years can bring. There is a secret too that unfolds at the end and reconnection comes with its revelation—particularly for Grace and her father. There is a lot of character development, healing and realising of dreams. And despite the challenges, there is a positive outcome.

This is a powerful and moving story that inspired and warmed my heart. I love that it is based on a woman of significance who made quite a number of contributions to the science world, against the odds. The setting is critical in this novel and one that inspires awe. Penny Haw has described Tanzania’s great landscape beauty, its wild but alluring dangers and its captivating animals. I learned a great deal reading the novel and felt as though I had visited this place and met these people. Follow Me to Africa is a true charmer— an unputdownable read. I did not want to disembark this fascinating journey that held me captive from the first page to the last. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for a review copy.

I thought this was a good read. I've always had an interest in archaeology, so I liked learning a bit more about it. Mary Leakey was a trailblazer, one of few women in the field ( literally!) in the early days. Grace was a confused young girl, trying to understand her parents and find a path of her own. Her connection with Mary added to the story. Though this IS fiction, it was loosely based on Mary's life. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC. I definitely recommend!

Penny Haw’s Take Me to Africa is a beautifully crafted historical fiction centered around the life of real-life trailblazer, Mary Leakey. Set against the dreamy backdrop of Africa, the novel perfectly captures the spirit of adventure and discovery. The character development is masterfully done, making Mary’s journey both personal and inspiring. As my first introduction to Haw’s work, this book exceeded expectations, earning a solid 4 stars. I’m definitely looking forward to exploring more from this author!

Having experienced the vastness of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater first hand, the author beautifully and with great accuracy captures Africa’s expansive landscapes and animals. Only a couple pages in and the tension builds quickly. It doesn’t give you too much too fast, which leaves you eager to learn more. I could barely put this book down. I sometimes have a hard time going back and forth between timelines, but this book made it seamless. I never felt lost or confused. The writing is exquisite. I felt like I was there, could see, feel and hear everything. This will be a must read when it comes out, I have no doubts.

This novel is a beautiful tribute to resilience, the pursuit of passion, and the bonds that unite us, making it a must-read for anyone who cherishes stories of strong women carving their own paths in history.