Himmel über Langani

In the novel Himmel über Langani, Barbara and Stephanie Keating create a great African family saga set in Kenya from the late 1950s to the country's post-independence period. At the center of the story are three girls who grow up in the highlands of Kenya and swear eternal friendship - they become "blood sisters", even though they come from completely different worlds.

Sarah Mackay is the daughter of Irish parents, a sensitive and idealistic girl who is strongly attached to Africa and wants to dedicate her life to that country. Hannah van der Beer belongs to an old African family that has cultivated the Langani farm for generations, a place that becomes a symbol of home, security and shared memories for the three friends. Camilla Broughton Smith, the daughter of British settlers, is different from her friends from the beginning - she is ambitious, attractive and eager for the world outside of Kenya.

Their carefree childhood is interrupted by the turbulent period of the Mau Mau uprising and political changes leading to Kenyan independence. As the girls grow up, their destinies diverge: Camilla goes to London and becomes a successful model in the sixties, Sarah goes to study in Ireland, but realizes that Africa is her true home, while Hannah fights for the survival of the Langani family estate and the legacy of her ancestors.

The novel shows not only the personal dramas of three women but also the disappearance of a colonial world. Through love relationships, family conflicts, betrayals and major historical changes, the author shows the complex relations between Europeans and Africans, the question of belonging to the country and the price people pay due to political and social divisions.

"Himmel über Langani" is a novel about a friendship that lasts for decades, but also about how time, love, ambitions and history can change even the strongest relationships. It is a story about Africa that is disappearing and a new Africa that is being born.