A beautiful, gripping historical fiction that had me in its grasp from page 1. I loved ever second of this book: the take of connection between Grace & Mary, the loss of one’s mother, it all moved me.

Biographical Fiction is my favorite genre so I was happy to receive this book, especially since it allowed me to escape to Africa for a few days!

I had never heard of Mary Leakey before but I am glad a woman made waves in archéologu/paleontology.

I was especially interested in the relationship between Grâce, a 17 year old and Mary and their shared passion for animals. The cheetah story adde some suspense that I enjoyed.

However, I feel the story ended abruptly., not quite know i g what would become of the 4 main protagonists.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an e-arc of this story in exchange for my honest review.

In this fascinating new historical fiction novel based on Mary Leakey’s life, readers follow teenage Grace Clark and her estranged father on an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania after her mother’s death. On the dig, seventy-year old Mary Leakey enlists Grace’s help in sorting and packing her belongings, and Grace reminds Mary of her own young adulthood as an aspiring archeologist and book illustrator in the 1930s, where she met and fell in love with the (married) Louis Leakey and Olduvai Gorge. As the dig progresses, Mary and Grace start to discover their similarities, such as a love of animals like the injured cheetah Lisa and a secret connecting them both. With a fascinating pair of historical settings and incredible main characters, readers will love discovering Mary Leakey’s life in this character-centric novel. The characters are really well written and very complex, and the backstories and character development really immerse readers in the novel because there is so much happening off the page or before the events of the novel’s two eras that readers get to explore. A unique twist on the dual-timeline novel, readers will really like the vibrant settings and complex characters in this fascinating new book.

This is a dual-timeline novel. The "present day" timeline is 1983, and the other time is the 1930s. Both timelines take place primarily in Africa. I loved how the 1930s timeline with a young Mary Leakey mirrors Grace's experiences in 1983.

I didn't know the name Mary Leakey before picking up this book, but she was a real paleontologist who made some remarkable finds in Africa. Grace is a completely fictional character but she is very relatable as a young adult who is on the cusp of adulthood but isn't sure what to do with her life. Particularly since she spent the last year or so caring for her ailing mother alone and is now grieving her mother's death.

I really liked how the two stories weaved together, and both parts were interesting. I loved the cheetah, Lisa. And though there is an animal involved in the story, there are no sad animal moments.

I was glad that I started this on the weekend were I could read most of it in one day. I was really sucked into the story and I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to be right there with Mary and Grace. I enjoyed the setting and Mary's story of a young female paleontologist. I found it to be a relaxing read.

This is the first novel I've read by Penny Haw, but I will definitely keep her name on my list of authors to read.

My review is will be published at Girl Who Reads on Saturday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/07/2-historical-fiction-books-you-might.html

Follow Me to Africa is a historical fiction novel based on the life and work of Mary Leakey. Leakey was a British paleoanthropologist. She worked primarily in Africa. Most of the book takes place at Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania, eastern Africa.

The book alternates between Leakey's past as we learn how she started and became so respected in her field, and the year 1983, as she is preparing to leave Olduvai Gorge for good. One of the workers at the Gorge has brought his 17 year old daughter to the dig sight as she is mourning the loss of her mother. Grace Clark is angry at a father who had abandoned her to be the sole carer for her ailing mother. But, Grace finds something she does love in Africa, the animals, in particular, with the help of Leakey, she befriends an injured Cheetah

As I often find when stories alternate perspectives or timelines, I usually have a preference for one or another. In this story, Mary Leakey asks Grace what she might like to do as a career.

"Well, what do you think? Live animals or fossilized ones?"

My answer was the animals, I definitely preferred the 1983 timeline as Grace and the Cheetah's stories are told. Leakey was an amazing woman who had an amazing life, but some of the information in her timeline went over my head, and I didn't find it as exciting as the 1983 timeline.

Overall, though, this was a fascinating story. It was well written. The descriptions of when Mary takes Grace to a wildlife reserve and she finally gets to see the animals are so vivid I could imagine I was there. If you enjoy historical fiction stories and have a fascination for archeology, then this story is definitely for you.

Solid and interesting historical fiction in a time/setting I haven't read much about: archaeological digs in East Africa (Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania mainly), with half of the story/timeline based on real people. This story alternates between the timelines of Dr. Mary Leakey and how she got her start as one of the foremost female archaeologists in the 1930s/40s, and 1983, when 17-year-old Grace goes to visit her father on a dig at Mary's site in Tanzania. I have heard of Dr. Leakey (when mentioned by Ross in Friends lol), but didn't know which one he was referring to (Mary or her husband Louis).

I loved every scene with Lisa the cheetah (I want to hear her purr!) and appreciated how hard Mary worked to make a name for herself in the paleoanthropology world apart from her husband.

Overall, an interesting look into archaeology (although sometimes it read a little dry in those parts), life in the Serengeti plains in the 1930s-80s, daughter-parent relationships, and pioneering women in science fields.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved The Woman at the Wheel by Penny Haw and i love how she writes historical fiction that is so interesting!!!

This is a classic example of the saying "appearances can be deceiving." In other words, your initial impression of Mary Leakey might not be entirely accurate. As the narrative unfolds, readers come to understand more about Mary’s personality, the African landscape, and the fields of science and palaeontology—far beyond what they might have anticipated.

The author's vivid descriptions bring to life the scents, colors, sounds, and contours of the Serengeti and its wildlife. The characters are richly developed and, at times, disarmingly honest, yet they remain consistently compelling throughout the story.

The archeology side of the book was interesting. However, it was a slow read and very hard to stay interested in. The love story also detracted from the overall book.

Historical fiction set in the Ngorongoro Crater?! Sign me up. This novel takes places in two different timelines that eventually intersect. It follows the real-life Mary Leakey from childhood throughout her impressive career as a paleoanthropologist, and Grace, a 17 year old who accompanies her dad to Tanzania following the death of her mother. I was fully invested in Mary and Grace, fascinated by Mary's work (I was regularly Googling her), delighted with the African scenery, and adored the addition of an affectionate cheetah. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley!

Unfortunately I was not in the mood for this story. I started it and it was a slow burn that I just didn’t look forward to reading. I was distracted and wanting to read other books. I finally made the decision to put this aside and maybe come back to it.

Yeah. This was interesting! I felt like I learned a lot of about the time period and these real-life people, but that's about how far it went for me. I didn't get swept up in the story or anything. It was just alright.

This book was a very enjoyable work of historical fiction based on the fascinating life of Mary Leakey. In 2023, I visited the locations featured in this book (Ngorogoro, the Serengeti, and Olduvai in Tanzania) and so I'm familiar with the history of Dr. Leakey and the beauty of the area, but I loved getting to relive the sunsets, the grassy plains, and the purring cheetahs through Grace's adventure in Olduvai.

ecently I read an article that critiqued historical fiction with one argument being that this genre is not always completely accurate in depicting characters or events. That may be true but historical fiction remains one of my favorite genres. I love the immersion into a person’s life and time. This was certainly true for me in this story about Mary Leakey (in one part of this dual time line story) and Grace Clark in 1983. Note that of these two, the fictional character is Grace.

I adored the setting of this book, the characters and the story itself. Leakey was a fascinating woman with the most interesting life. I also enjoyed meeting seventeen year old Grace and watching the relationship between these two women.

This seems like a perfect title for Women’s History Month or, indeed, any month. Most highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks-Landmark for this title. All opinions are my own.

Inspired by the famed paloeanthropologist, Mary Leakey, this novel highlights an intergenerational relationship and the natural world. Told in dual timelines, it explores Mary’s passionate pursuit of her ambitions in her early life and her relationship with Grace, a seventeen year old who begrudgingly accompanies her father to Africa in 1983. They soon discover they might have more in common than originally thought.

Haw has created a book that transports you to the heart of Tanzania, the Olduvai Gorge, and the Ngorungoro Crater. This atmospheric writing is truly the star of the book and resulted in a lot of google-ing. Despite being a slower read, it is a fascinating story that blended fact and fiction well. It was apparent that this is incredibly researched. Overall, a fascinating read that was incredibly informative.

Switching back and forth between 1983 & the 1930's, Grace and Mark Leaky are together on an archaeological dig. Grace has been brought to the dig after the death of her mother by her father, who had left her when Grace was younger. Mary, now 70, is leaving soon and needs someone to help organize her things for her trip.
Through their stories they are eventually joined by their mutual love of animals and desire to save a cheetah which had previously been brought up in captivity.
The story moves along, as times towards the end does lag a bit, then a speedy ending.
Thanks to NetGalley, Ms Haw, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Inspired by British paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey, who discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct genus of primates from the Miocene, and fifteen other new species of animals, this historical fiction novel is told in dual timelines. The latter timeline follows seventeen-year-old Grace Clark as she travels with her father to Africa after the death of her mother to an archeological dig in Tanzania headed by Mary Leakey. The former timeline follows Mary Nicol as a young woman interested in archeology, but not in academics, as she follows her passions and becomes an illustrator for the well-known paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, an older man with a wife and baby. Despite the circumstances, Mary follows Leakey to East Africa where she flourishes as a scientist.

I am always fascinated to learn more about female pioneers of science, which attracted me to this book, especially since I vaguely remembered Mary Leakey from my anthropology classes in university. This is the second book in a row that I’ve read inspired by a historical female pioneer in her field that was also involved with a married man. I admit that I found this story a little more enjoyable due to the latter timeline that portrays the heroine at age seventy looking back over her life with less emphasis on the man in question, and from the point of view of another young woman, while fictional, also making observances about the woman at the center of the story.

Affair and academics aside, I related well to Mary’s priorities as a young woman in the 1930s rebelling against her mother’s social strictures, more interested in studying archeology and learning from more mature people experienced in the field rather than in school, boys and making friends with girls her own age. I was much the same. I really enjoyed the relationship that the fictional Grace developed with Mary in later years as they bonded over a cheetah that wanders near their camp in poor condition and their various strategies about how to help the animal and Grace’s realization of what she would like her own future to hold.

I read and listened to this book in parts. The audiobook is narrated by Amy Scanlon, a favorite narrator of mine. She did a great job with the story, smoothly transitioning between the timelines and the characters even as they aged.

Recommended to readers interested in strong female characters inspired by history and a bit about living on a dig site in the wilds of Africa.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy provided for an honest review.

The story combines facts and fiction. It also deals with a subject that may sound dreary but brought to vivid life by the author. Told in two timelines the 1930s and then 1983, we deal with two women decades apart. Mary Leakey is a world famous paleo anthropologist retiring now with laurels to her name. Grace is a rebellious young woman brought against her will to the wilds of Africa for a short break by her father. The father she has not seen for years, with whom she has nothing in common and someone whom she does not care for at all. The background setting is the harsh African continent then and now.

A mutual love for animals brings the two women together. A cheetah neglected and sick appears at the site and both women are keen to save the animal. Against all odds as the animal had been a pet and then turned into the wild, all of them do not succeed with adapting to the wild.

The story of Mary’s own life from the time she was a young woman, her keenness and intelligence to learn and apply that knowledge to her craft, Mary now seeks to help Grace to have some direction in her own life with what she would like to do.

The Serengeti and its people are brought to life in this story, and though the subject is too vast to be understood fully in one story, the author certainly educated this reader.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark #partner for the finished copy of Follow Me to Africa in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read by Penny Haw, though it certainly will not be my last. Luckily for me, I already have one of her other books sitting on my shelf…and you better believe I’ll be moving it up on my tbr!

It’s no surprise that I love historical fiction, but finding books that aren’t set during the wars can sometimes be a little tricky. This book grabbed my attention because I haven’t read too many books set in Africa, nor have I read any books about paleoanthropologists, male or female & I was immediately intrigued. ⁣
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I loved how this book took a real person & paired it with a fictional character…I love how historical fiction authors are able to do that so seamlessly & Penny Haw does it in such a clever way. ⁣The book centers on the question: What would you tell your younger self. It is with this question in mind that we watch the relationship between Mary and Grace unfold.

It is quite evident the amount of research that went into the writing of this book, and when you read the author’s note – a must-read for sure! – you see why the author made the decisions about how she wrote the book and just how accomplished Mary Leakey was! The writing itself is just gorgeous, with such a strong sense of place. I’ve never been to Africa, and yet because of the vivid writing, I felt as if I was there.

I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it to all historical fiction lovers!

This is historical fiction at it's best. We have two timelines for the anthropologist Mary Leakey. Her talent as an artist got her a plave among the talented researchers at the time. The story moves between the 1930s and the 1980s. We also meet Grace who has come to the dig with her father. Her interactions with Mary are inspiring for her. She needed the healing and wonder that was provided.

The description of life at the camp/dig are quite eye opening and informative. One can only hope to see something of this one day. I thought the author did a wonderful job of putting us in the setting without romanticizing it. She also gave us the character development which was important to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and applaud women who were ahead of their time. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this book.