Chapters 6-10 Summary and Analysis

The chapter titled Coming-Back Babies reveals that in African tradition, an infant who dies must be buried among tree roots, with offerings following a specific ceremony. If this ritual is not followed, the child's spirit returns to the mother's womb repeating the process of being reborn and dying shortly after birth, over and over. Alexandra Fuller herself should have been a coming-back baby because she was conceived shortly after the death of her beautiful brother Adrian. In contrast to her placid brother, the cover photo shows Alexandra as outraged, willful and angry. The Fuller signature tackie lips that look so voluptuous on Vanessa look sulky on Alexandra.

In England 1969, the family moves back to England when Nicola Fuller is pregnant with Alexandra. They borrow money to buy a farm in Derbyshire. Father Tim Fuller sells agricultural chemicals to local...