The White Rhino Hotel

Anton Rider #1

by Bartle Bull

Historic romance and adventure do not get any better than in this companion novel to the top-selling A Café on the Nile. The Great War has ended, tragically for many, but for some, Africa holds the prospect of vast estates, fabulous wealth, and limitless opportunity in this powerful, wonderfully crafted novel of the natural and human perils that await pioneers in a promised land. In colonial Kenya the paths of these new settlers cross at Lord Penfold's White Rhino Hotel. Here they meet the cunning dwarf Olivio Alevado, a man whose lustful desires and vengeful schemes make him a formidable adversary to his enemies and a subtle ally to his friends. Here the destinies of the gypsy adventurer Anton Rider and courageous, war-hardened Gwen Llewelyn intersect. Here hope is corrupted by greed, love by revenge, and loyalty by betrayal as the future is trampled into history. "A wing-ding adventure story.... The kind of book that creates one of the elemental delights of fiction - a complete other world where, unlike our own, all the parts add up to something." - Boston Globe; "A genuine epic centered in Africa, by a writer who knows how to write, who knows his terrain intimately, who knows how to paint his characters convincingly, and who knows how to spin a good yarn." - Forbes Magazine.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Africa, Novels, Kenya, Adventure, Egypt

404 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

Bartle Bull was born in London and educated at Harvard and at Magdalen College, Oxford. A student of the China coast since he first worked in Hong Kong over thirty years ago, he is a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club. He is the author of Safari: A chronicle of Adventure and the novels The White Rhino Hotel, A Cafe on the Nile, and The Devil's Oasis.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is historical fiction set in Africa. I liked some of this. I liked that the setting was its own separate character. But even with that, this seemed to drag in so many places. It was a bit of a one note as far as plot goes. Nothing good ever happened. No good feelings were ever experienced. There wasn't any contrast to create tension. No good vs. evil. Just evil vs. depraved vs. corruption vs. vice, etc. So this was just okay for me.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My initial assessment of this one was too sexist and too violent, but I ended up listening compulsively. (It was a sexist and violent time and place.) It's a great historical adventure tale that takes place in British East Africa right after WWI.

The characters are wonderful: an English aristocrat who's gradually sold all his land in England to finance his unsuccessful farms in Kenya. He owns the White Rhino. His barman and manager is a Goan dwarf with great ambitions and a lifetime of resentments against those who've not taken him seriously. The "hero" is a Brit who's mother took him to live with the gypsies (he doesn't know who his father was but his father-figure was the gypsy). He needs space and forest so he takes a job on a ship, jumps ship and goes to Kenya and is well on his way to becoming a "great white hunter". There's a German who fought for the Kaiser in Africa, lives to see German East Africa turned over to the British and his farm confiscated. There's Gwen who travels from Wales to meet her husband, who won a farm in Kenya as the result of auctionan favoring British soliders, but he's been injured and seems unlikely to survive in tough environment. Gwen, on the other hand, wants to succeed in Africa. There are assorted Africans, mainly Kikuyu who will help the outsiders understand the land and their enemies, the Masai. There are assorted dirt bags as well: an Indian who finance the farms for Europeans they expect to fail, a Portuguese "poseur", also out to scam the disabled soldiers, brutish Irish brothers who dispense violence and take what they want, an American hunter. This is not great lit, but it is great adventure. There are two more books which take up this story with some of the same characters, one taking place in Cairo in the 30ies and another in the desert with Rommel and Montgomery in WWII. The author seems to have begun a similar series on China too, covering the early twentieth century time period I've been reading about lately so I'm interested in those too.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

After WWI, Great Britain held a lottery for its veterans , giving away large tracts of what is now Kenya. It was a new start and a promised breath of fresh air after the horrors of the trenches. There were far more applicants than land grants, Many of the winners had never been to Africa; some had disabilities from the war.

At this time, Africa was like the American wild west had been a century earlier. The new, untamed life was especially attractive to those without a place in British society – misfits, adventure seekers, younger sons of nobility, an adventurous gypsy. But while some sought their fortunes through legitimate pursuits such as farming and gold-prospecting, others used fraud and guns.

And so this novel is just plain gritty. Lots of big game hunting, but even more murders and rapes, thefts of land and dashed dreams – all those activities that exist just outside of the law. The native tribes were ousted from their traditional lands and treated as subhuman; it was certainly no crime to kill a black man.

Most offensive to me was also an oversexed dwarf who took a native twelve year old girl to teach as his paramour.

It was an eye opening look at the seamier side of British colonialism. I’m glad to have read it, but will pass on the sequels.

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peopled with a rich array of characters, the novel takes place in British East Africa (Kenya) in the immediate aftermath of World War I, when the British government has promoted a great land rush for veterans, their families, and anyone in Britain keen for making better lives for themselves in Africa.

The White Rhino Hotel (owned by a British aristocrat) serves as the focal point for many of these expatriates upon their arrival in Africa. It's steeped in drama and intrigue, with the African landscape and the flora and fauna thereof brought vividly to life in its pages, acting in effect as an additional character which lends a deeper richness to the novel. I so enjoyed the reading experience.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I got over the beginning weirdness in this book, I couldn't put it down. I had never heard of Bartle Bull, but I saw this offered as an audio book and I was interested in the era. Oh my goodness! I loved this and the other two he wrote. It turns out there really was a White Rhino Hotel! This story takes some amazing characters and puts them into bag and shakes them up, pours them out, and leaves you not knowing who the heck the main character is!

Read up on the author. He's almost as interesting as his books!

[Joseph Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, the first of a trilogy set in Africa and spanning the two World Wars, is my favorite of the thee. (Though all are worth reading.) It's occasionally roughly written, but peopled by vivid characters and a superb sense of the time and place (colonial Kenya soon after World War I). All three books are dark-edged and violent, but also human and compelling. Another neglected author worthy of more notice.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1919-1920 Kenya mostly, with a little bit before during the war and an epilogue in 1921, the novel takes a while to get used to its rhythm, and has some abrupt transitions between its interlocking storylines, but it is gripping and hard to put down.

Roughly speaking there are four major storylines - the main one in a sense (which is continued in later volumes) follows young Anton Rider, a young outcast raised by gypsies in England but not really belonging either to their culture or to the mainstream British culture, who dreams of being a big hunter and uses his chance to go to Africa, then the story of Adam Penfold's (a British minor aristocrat fascinated by Africa, wounded in the war, who put all his fortune as it was into the hotel and land there to the dismay of his wife Sissy) hotel of the title name which serves as a pivotal place where characters meet, plot and act, the story of Goan mixed race dwarf and illegimate son of a Portguese bishop from Goa, Olivio Fonseca, the bartender at the White Rhino, who dreams of making it big while pining after Kina, young daughter of the local chief and sister of Karioki, and the story of Gwen Llewelyn who follows Allan, her Welsh soldier husband, badly marred by the war, to Africa where he gains a very desirable plot of land in the Kenyan uplands in the British government land lottery for WW1 veterans, only for Gwen to have to do everything on her own despite going through many traumatic events.

In addition, many notable characters appear, Kariuki, son of the local Kikuyu chief, a former soldier in the British colonial army, and blood brother to Anton as they repeatedly save each other's lives on their trek through Africa, the German soldier of fortune Ernst von Decken, war adversary of Adam and later sort of mentor to Anton as his aged father Hugo, former big game hunter and now a (soon to be) dispossessed rancher in the former German colonies of East Africa takes a shine to young Anton as well as Vasco Fonseca, a slimy Portuguese trader and schemer from Mozambique who schemes with the colonial British bigwigs to cheat the soldiers and farmers of their land among many others who leave a deep impression throughout the novel.

Brutal, raw and not for the squeamish as it is quite violent and fairly explicit on occasion, but a memorable read about a bygone era. Highly recommended

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've got a soft spot for historical adventure fiction, and so picked up this first in the "Anton Rider" series, set largely in British East Africa just after World War I. It's kind of amazing it was published in 1992, because it feels like something from a much more bygone era (albeit with some crazy sexual content). The story revolves around an Roma orphan who flees England as a teenager to seek his fortune in Africa. It's a pretty standard picaresque journey, as he has adventures on the ship over, making a lady friend along the way, and some thuggish Irish enemies.

Meanwhile, another cast of multicultural characters are in British East Africa (aka Kenya), including an aristocratic British veteran of the war in Africa and his wife, who own the titular hotel, a Portuguese adventurer, his sexpot sister, and a Goan dwarf who is a kind of major domo at the hotel and master of intrigue. The colonial administrators have decided to kick indigenous tribes off their lands and parcel it out to British ex-soldiers in a lottery system that draws all manner of predatory speculators. In the mix is a wounded Welsh veteran whose wife journeys over on the same boat as Anton Rider.

There's a lot going on, drawing upon the history of the place -- including a whole subplot involving gold mining and an Australian prospector. At times, the passage of time isn't totally clear, as the story hops around between characters and events. While the characters are colorful, they aren't particularly deep, more cartoonish on the whole -- villains are villainous, heroes are virtuous, various African sidekicks are wise and loyal, etc... Readers who are into historical adventure and interested in the setting should check it out, but be aware that there's a rape, and lots of sexual content, including a number of scenes involving a 12-13 year old girl that I'm surprised passed publishing muster thirty years ago...

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The White Rhino Hotel by Bartle Bull is the first book of the Anton Rider adventure series set in the post WWI British colony of Kenya. It's rip-roaring, swashbuckling, violent, bloodthirsty, educational. Kenya was a vast land of great natural beauty and deadly danger, side-by-side, and that's just the animals roaming free. The greedy, treacherous humans added yet another layer of danger for the unsuspecting yet hopeful emigrants from England.

Listening to the audio version, it's hard at first to sort out the key players, due to frequent shifts in character backstories and anecdotes going back in time. Eventually, we recognize: Adam Penfold, retired British officer, owner of The White Rhino Hotel; his wife Sissy; dwarf Olivio, bartender at The White Rhino, voyeur and practitioner of kinky sex with a child; Vasco Fonseca, unscrupulous and greedy to acquire land by foul means; Anton Rider, raised by gypsies, an outcast in England, driven by wanderlust for adventure in Kenya; Gwen Llewelyn, Welsh bride braving the journey to Kenya alone to reunite with her soldier husband, longing to settle on a farm and raise a family.

Fans of ferocious revenge...wait for it...you'll be satisfied. Squeamish readers may not like the violence - by humans and African wildlife alike. Keep in mind, the racism and sexism are authentic to the period (a century ago, there were no Diversity & Inclusion laws). A fun read, rougher-and-tougher than an Indy Jones movie.

Further Anton Rider adventures: A Café on the Nile, The Devil's Oasis, We'll Meet Again.

One day, I want to ride my own horse, on my own land.

Only lions and malaria have cost the club more, if you don't count the fellows drowned by Gordons gin.

"And now the colonial office tells us the interests of the savages are meant to come first. Native paramountcy, they're calling it in London." "Hard to say who are the savages,"

Now all they could look forward to sharing were the irritations and afflictions of old age. And even for those, they would have to wait a bit. It might have been different if they'd had a child.

[Martin Perea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book expecting something closer to *The Man-Eaters of Tsavo* or Jim Corbett’s *My India*—stories grounded in African history, hunting lore, and colonial adventure. What I found instead was a novel that leaned much more into romance than I anticipated.

Bartle Bull’s writing is undeniably strong. The prose flows beautifully, and the characters are well drawn, with enough complexity to hold my interest. I especially appreciated the way he wove in references to postwar societal issues, giving the setting both historical weight and cultural texture.

That said, the direction of the story surprised me. The romantic and erotic elements were much more prominent than I expected in a book framed as historical adventure. While I sometimes enjoy reading erotica, here I wasn’t entirely convinced it resonated with the arc of the story. At times it felt like an unexpected layer that distracted from what could have been a tighter narrative about East Africa during this turbulent era.

On the other hand, the violence—graphic and often shocking—did not seem out of place. Given the time period and region, I felt it added to the authenticity rather than detracting from it. My biggest reservation was when some of the action and plot turns began to feel a bit unbelievable, pulling me out of an otherwise immersive setting.

In the end, *The White Rhino Hotel* is an ambitious and richly written novel, but one that might surprise readers depending on their expectations. If you’re looking for pure adventure in the vein of early safari accounts, this might not be quite what you anticipate. If, however, you’re open to a blend of romance, historical fiction, and violence all wrapped in evocative prose, it could prove an intriguing read.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another that has been on the shelf for years and I finally got around to reading. A ripping good old-fashioned yarn. Outdated in some ways, perhaps, but perfectly suited for escapist reading during a pandemic. Looking forward to the other two books in Bull's trilogy -- they've been on the shelf for years as well.

[Morgan Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up this book at abt 50%. It had, so far many prolonged descriptions of violence and and many descriptions of unrealistic pornography. It is really a pity as the author has a broad knowledge in many areas, that make it a book you learn a lot from, quit unusual for fiction novels.

[Rayrumtum · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adventure in 1920 east Africa. I thought it started slowly and had a hard time pushing on, but the pace picked up in the last part. There is a sequel.

[Chris Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very neat read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starts a little slow, but quickly picks up and is hard to put down at that point.

[Catherine Zawacki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Down to earth

Pretty raw descriptions of life in Africa. The transition between scenes was to abrupt and without any indication of the change.

[Thomas Mcevilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for manly men.

[Susan H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rollicking adventure story that will take you far far away from your armchair. The characters are superb and the action is fast-paced. I highly recommend!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy's own adventure combined with gratuitous violence and sex and a tacit approval of colonialism.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read of Bartle Bull's "The White Rhino Hotel," and I liked it a lot more than during my first read.

The story is a classic Europeans-in-Africa yarn, told from the European perspective. Set in colonial Kenya in the post-WWII era (Kenya was part of the British Empire), the story revolves around several Europeans who are participating, in one way or another, in the carve-up of the African continent after the Great War. Some, such as Lord Penfold, are trying to find ways to stay in Africa in relative comfort in the twilight of their lives. Most of the others, like the gypsy Anton Rider, are trying to carve out opportunity at the start of their lives. And one - the dwarf Olivio Alavedo - seeks to build an empire, based on nothing more than his own cunning.

But everyone - man, woman, and child; local or transplant; rich or poor - is subject to the harsh truth of Africa: death lurks everywhere. A strong man can be trampled by a hippo. A child can be devoured by hordes of ants. A woman can be raped. And anyone can be shot.

Wheels turn within wheels. Dozens of intrigues spin out their plots - some obvious, others devious.

While I enjoyed this novel on my first read, it seemed like an insensitive throwback to the Alan Quaterman sensibility of Europeans dominating Africa in all respects - culturally, militarily, and romantically. On a second read, I see that the author, Bartle Bull, is far more sensitive to nuance than I first gave him credit for, and he is far from a jingoistic European celebrating the civilizing of "the Dark Continent." While this book is ultimately an adventure yarn rather than Great Literature, his main characters are much more complex than I had remembered.

The one area where Bull is magnificent is in his depiction of the African wildlife. Animals are not given human cares and thoughts, but the wildlife of Africa is a character in its own right - wild, unpredictable, lethal, and gorgeous.

A truly fun read, "The White Rhino Cafe" may be a little too violent for some or too sexy for others. But for me, it was a highly enjoyable lark. On to "The Cafe on the Nile"!

[Barbarac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a dangerous safari, kinky sex and cheese-making all rolled in one. After the first few chapters in which I couldn’t really connect to any of the characters and none of the war stories really interested me, I finally got hooked. There’s five main characters in this book, and I believe there’s a sequel to it and they are all in there. There’s the old stuffy Brit Lord Penfold, the rigid German Von Decken, the conniving Goan Olivio and the young Anton and Gwen. By the end of the book they weren’t stuffy, rigid or conniving and I really enjoyed all the characters. Well, I was still a bit disturbed by some of the kinky sex specially involving Olivio and his lover, an underage African girl. I enjoy a good romp in books, and even some kink but for some reason it seemed out of place in post-war Africa. Then again, I’m sure all that was going on and more.
Interestingly, while initially I thought my favorite part of the book would be the developing love between Anton and Gwen I have to say I never really warmed up to Anton, so that didn’t really worked for me. Gwen on the other hand is a formidable woman capable of anything, it seems. Anton, I guess appropriately for his age, didn’t seem mature enough to be able to handle a relationship and throughout the book is horrified about the thought of settling down and working on Gwen’s farm. He’s more the white hunter/gold prospector type, “careers” not very compatible with relationships.
My favorite scenes of this book were the ones involving elephants. They’ve always seemed such an interesting animal to me, and Bartle Bull adds to their mystery and allure. I must read more on elephants.
A warning, there’s violence in this book, in the form of very detailed animal attacks, or very explicit attempted or otherwise rape and/or murders.

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

This action and romance book is set in British East Africa in the immediate aftermath of WW I. The background theme is the provision of land grants to British veterans who wished to seek a new life in colonizing this part of Africa. It features the normal collection of characters--British, German, Portuguese and native African. Most of them are common types, but I have to admit I was taken aback by the Portuguese (Goan) expatriate dwarf who indulged (frequently and graphically) in kinky sex with willing females of different races. Oh well, it takes all kinds, I guess. There are also the standard graphic assaults on various characters by ferocious African predators (and brutish Irish thugs).
When all is said and done, though, it's no more than a modestly entertaining beach read, and that only if you're in the hot sun and therefore not concentrating too hard on what you're reading. The problem is that the characters are not clearly defined; you may think you understand a character, but not so many pages later he or she is acting in a way quite inconsistent with your first impression. Similarly, the continuity is confusing. Chalk all this up to a somewhat dilettante author and/or poor editing. On the plus side, the author has done his homework on Africa and the period, so there is some interesting information about both.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook.
I found it really slow going the first third of the book. There were a lot of names to learn, and they were sometimes referred to by first name and sometime last, so it got quite confusing. Once you did get to know the characters the story got to be a lot more interesting, It takes place in Kenya just after world war one. It showcases the experiences of five main characters trying to make a new life in this part of the world. The characters face a large degree of challenges in the harsh conditions, and there is a great deal of hardship, violence, in the road to getting ahead.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book and must confess that I turned the volume way down during the particularly gory scenes. All manner of animals and people were attacked and/or killed in most graphic descriptions. I'm sure it was a violent time just after WWI in east Africa. The characters are so well defined that I could picture the scenes easily - what a movie it would make! I've always had a fascination with Kenya and this book added immensely to my mental image. The stories of the characters interwove amongst the violence and gore.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book set in post WWI Eastern Africa and it is a fascinating setting and weird group of charactors. At first I felt repulsed enough by the conniving charactors that only the amazing descriptions of early colonial Africa kept me going. There really were some raw, gross things in the book, but I was hooked and plan to read the next one. I should have expected that because Bull's other book about Shanghai was nasty enough to leave permanent scar damage on my brain.

[Diane C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept swinging between two views of this book. On one hand, it's a ripping yarn of life in early 20th century Africa among a handful of Brits and Australians and Austrians come to exploit Africa for different reasons and finding as much failure as success. On the other hand, so much description of harsh life in the savannah and especially detailed ones of hunting, killing and eating animals. My ultimate impression was close but no cigar.

[Raymond Rockwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel the world and the seven seas: / Everybody's looking for something.

And after WWI, many of them looked for it in Africa-- opportunists both active and
passive, hasbeens and wannabes, interloper and dispossessed--and crossed paths
at Lord Penfold's White Rhino Hotel.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far it's keeping my interest, although just barely.

UPDATED: The pace seemed to really pick up in the second half. The ending felt rushed, but overall I really enjoyed this book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somebody told me if I liked Wilbur Smiths' books, then I would like this. They were right. Great story. One of the best stories I've read in quite a while. It's the first of a trilogy which I look forward to reading now too. Good job Mr Bull, and Thank You!.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same great characters but definitely an R+ rating due to certain content(of which I could have done without). The story, however, was good, I always enjoy stories that take place in distant lands. Without all the heavy, and sometimes distasteful content, I would have rated this a 4.