In the Shade of the Mulberry Tree: A year in Zambia

Organising her husband, toddler and babe in arms, three suitcases, two rucksacks, a pram and a travel cot onto a plane ready for a new life in Zambia is complicated enough. Given Catharine's fear of malaria and tropical diseases and the anxieties of moving beyond the reach of friends and family, she wonders how she was persuaded to move at all. Then, just as they approach the airport, it appears that they don't have their passports. In the Shade of the Mulberry Tree is a heartwarming and thought provoking tale about Catharine Withenay's first year living abroad as an expatriate wife. She chronicles her family's adventures as they settle into a new culture far from home. Nothing is as simple as it should be, from buying furniture to getting a haircut. As she copes with motherhood and the injustices of poverty and healthcare in Zambia she wonders: could she ever come to call this place home?

Catharine has variously worked as a waitress, shop assistant, general office employee, church lay worker and accountant before taking up a career as the wife of a doctor. In her spare time she enjoys playing the cello, watching cricket, preaching and winning at board games, but not all at once. She was born and brought up in Yorkshire, educated in Scotland and has also lived in Cambridge and London. Her husband’s career took her to Lusaka, Zambia for two years, but she ended up staying for four. She currently lives near Manchester (which she fully recognises to be The Wrong Side of the Pennines).