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Book Review: Letters from Gilgil 3 by Peter Massam

ByMary Jones

Jun 23, 2025 #book review, #dailyprompt, #featured, #Reader Review, #the chrysalis brew project
Book cover for "Letters from Gilgit 3" by Peter Massam, featuring a mountain landscape and the BREW Seal of Excellence.

An introspective and powerful farewell to a vanished culture, this third book in its series leaves a lasting imprint on both mind and spirit.

Review

Evocative, contemplative, timeless.

When Halley’s Comet blazed through Earth’s skies in 1986, it didn’t just light up space—it ignited imaginations. For Peter Massam, it was reason enough to climb Mount Kenya and sleep beside a frozen corrie. But this book isn’t about astronomy—it’s about alignment. Between man and memory, tradition and time, geography and grief.

This final volume in the Letters from Gilgil trilogy is where the reflective tone deepens into something enduring. It is about farewells—to the land, to a role, to a moment in history. But it never dips into nostalgia. Rather, it treats memory like sediment—each chapter a layer of insight and humility. Readers join Massam as he travels into the remotest reaches of Turkana, where lava fields meet ancient lakes and silence holds its own soundscape. There, obsidian shards glint like forgotten knives and fossilized Nile perch vertebrae remind us that nature, too, leaves behind bones.

The writing is elegant, even when describing hardship. The content is deeply grounded in real science, geography, and anthropology—massive value for young readers and educators alike. The pace is measured, the language free of pretension. It connects, because it’s honest. Visually, the book continues its strong use of slide images, but the visuals also expand in the reader’s mind—especially when Massam describes the Turkana women’s beaded neck coils or the eerie calm of the El Molo village by a lake that rarely smiles. It has that rare literary gift: it breathes after the last page. My favorite moment? When Massam describes the supermarket aisle in England after his return, and cannot understand why anyone needs 42 kinds of cereal. That sense of reverse culture shock is told not with judgment, but genuine bewilderment. It’s funny, but also profoundly sad.

This is not a book for thrill-seekers or cynics. But for readers who understand that wonder is a form of respect—and that listening is an act of love—it’s a treasure. Fans of Bruce Chatwin or Paul Theroux’s more contemplative moments will find a home here.

Massam ends not with punctuation, but with ellipsis. His final reflections, particularly on cultural extinction and the quiet death of the El Molo language, are offered like artifacts—delicate, precious, and slightly warm from the hand that passes them to you. This book, like the final track of a great album, fades not into silence, but into your memory. A symphony played not on instruments, but on altitude, resilience, and the red volcanic soil of Kenya’s hidden roads.

Each book in this trilogy is a compass. Together, they form a cartography of grace.

About the Author

Peter Massam is a writer whose work documents places, events, and personal experiences. He has published poetry, technical works, and the Cuz Collection, combining verse with sketches. His recent output includes two themed poetry collections and the Learning Experience trilogy. His first technical book addressed Customer Experience in business strategy.

Book Details

  • Title: Letters from Gilgil 3
  • Author: Peter Massam
  • Genre(s): Non-Fiction
  • Sub-genre(s): Travel and Adventure
  • Theme(s): Memory, Environment
  • Minimum Audience Age: 12
  • Main language used in the text: English

Book Themes

(Note: 0=none, 1=a few, 2=considerable, 3=pronounced, 4=excessive)

  • Sexual themes: 0 – None
  • Descriptive of body adornment only.
  • Religious themes: 1 – A few
  • Mentions tribal rituals and cultural ceremonies.
  • Violence, self-harm, etc.: 1 – A few
  • Wildlife dangers discussed, no gore.
  • Crude language, expletives: 0 – None
  • Language is consistently gentle and polite.
  • Other adult themes: 2 – Considerable
  • Loss, cultural extinction, environment themes noted.

Rating

  • Content: 5
  • Writing Style or Visual Presentation, or both, as applicable: 5
  • Appeal to Target Audience: 5
  • Uniqueness: 5
  • Editing: 5
  • Other factors: 5
  • Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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By Mary Jones

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