THE RED HOUSE

About the Book

In the brutal aftermath of the Somme battlefield, Colin McKenzie’s gas injury compels his emigration to the warmer colonial Rhodesia. The Red House shifts from battlefield trauma to the complex and violent realities of settlement. Into this mix are constant upheavals of land disputes, the horrifying grimness of the Spannish Flu and murder. A story that travels from the glens of Scotland to the dust and heat of Africa. It draws you in from the onset. An exquisite tale that reflects the lives of many Scots who moved to this part of the Rhodesias to sek a better life. It twists and turns, and keeps you hooked , until the very end. A saga of love and family. A really good read. Caroline Emeny. Suffolk, England. An enthralling, brilliantly written story that captures the true essence of grit and determination to succeed despite the many obstacles faced. The Red House charts a country growing and the loves and loss faced by those challenged to survive. Shenagh Benney. Oxfordshire. England.

About the Author

Though born is Scotland, Nicholson Burke spent his teenage years at school in what was Rhodesia. He went into education and worked as a teacher, sports coach and Headmaster through his adult life, both in what became Zimbabwe and the U.K.. Called up during the Rhodesian Bush War provided him  with material that he used for his first novel The Silence of the Dying which he published in 2021. Traveling back and forwards on school tours and family trips he often passed a lonely double storey red brick farmhouse. No-one seemed to know how or why it was built so incongruously. The Red House is a tale to answer that puzzle. He is a widower, but has 2 sons from his marriage.