A captivating story at many levels. One comes away with a breathless sense of hard work, the pampas, and the added complexities of dealing with a handicapped child in a very foreign country forty years ago. And underlying other themes is a fascination and puzzlement - sometimes fear - of the superstition and mystery of a place that is rural Argentina. If you're interested in travel and history and life, read it.

Visiting a foreign place can never match the depths of understanding that come from living there. And beautiful, mysterious Argentina forty years ago was certainly foreign to most Brits and Americans. But the author's personal experiences in a superstitious, fearful and harshly different set of cultural circumstances, find voices in the complex set of characters who live through seasons, earning a living by cooperating with and competing with nature and bureaucracies at all levels. Another story line of family courage and sadness of raising a physically impaired child in this environment weaves together with the land and the mysteries to make for a gripping and informative tale - well told.

Ms. Dallemagne-Cookson paints a fascinating picture of life immediately before and during Belgian Congo's independence movement of 1960. This story was tragically repeated in many newly created African countries as the move to end colonialism once and for all gained momentum, but left in its wake people virtually leaderless after years of institutionalized governing. Europeans, whether they wanted to or not, exited their former colonies and left behind people unprepared to adequately conduct their own affairs. Many of these, including Elise's father-in-law from whom the book's title originates, deeply loved their life in Africa and were caught up by something over which they had no control. In spite of years of harmony with the local population, they were transformed overnight into hated imperialists and forced to leave. Meanwhile, in the new countries, those with the ability to lead rapidly learned "power corrupts" and without anyone to hold them in check embarked on shameless venality, leaving general populaces no better off than before, in almost every instance worse. The detrimental effects of that linger still to this day. Ms. Dallemagne-Cookson has a wonderfully masterful use of language and - along with the advantage of being on-scene for the entire event - has produced a work of art that no self-respecting history buff can ignore. Other than a map, the book has no pictures and needs none; the story line will generate all the mental illustrations you'll ever need. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, both in 1995 when it was given to me by Elise's brother Peter Cookson and his wife Karen - my mother - and when I read it again a year ago.

I have watched this movie over and over and over. To imagine the wonder of a Star like Bette Davis. As far as I am concerned Ms. Bette made that movie. Her acting is superb. She is insane of course, due to circumstances beyond her control. She was definitely true to her part. Bette is so many different people in Jane Hudson. No one can perform the horrid cry or laugh like Bette Davis Baby Jane Hudson. Victor Buono also perfect to his part. Robert Aldrich certainly knew what he was doing in selecting the characters for the movie. Now Joan Crawford she is great too, not as good as Bette. Joan ticks me when she doesn't scream loud enough for the neighbor to hear her. Joan seems to make alot of stupid mistakes. This is my favorite movie, and I think everyone should at least see it once. As you will never forget it. Oh I can't believe I almost forgot Elvira. I loved it when Elvira tells Jane what time it is. Elvira is an excellent actress too. Anyway if you plan on becoming an actress. SEE THIS MOVIE. THE BEST

In their only appearance together on film - they didn't have any scenes together in the 1944 wartime morale - boosting film HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN - Davis and Crawford each sparked their quickly fading careers by doing this excursion into the macabre. The picture isn't exactly Hitchcock, and it goes on and on in a light dimmer than necessary, and the climax - when it belatedly arrives - is rather something of a cop-out. However, this low - budget film which was directed by Robert Aldrich has achieved cult status, because the acting impresses those who relish it. Bette Davis is absolutely amazing in her characterization of a misfit who can't forget that she was once a child star in vaudeville. Bette had just been through what she termed her "ten black years" when this movie thrust forward her screen stock and again made her a bankable star. Joan Crawford plays the role of Blanche, a wheelchair bound cripple and former movie star who lives in constant torment due to her sister's shenanigans. Crawford, (who is considerably better groomed than Davis) wisely underplays Bette and director Aldrich drew to nicely contrasted performances from two actresses the likes of which we'll never see again. Davis is astonishingly grotesque in her playing of Jane and the public ate it up in 1962; it was the runaway sleeper hit of the year. If these two legendary stars did indeed have a feud, there certainly aren't many juicy stories connected with it in books: it is probable that they respected each other enough to succumb to such drudgery. It is well - known that Joan enjoyed Pepsi spiked with vodka, insisted that the set be kept at fifty degrees and would say "bless you" for "thank-you". Bette was her unaffected opposite and walked around the set in slippers and an old robe with make-up on the collar. Victor Bouno plays obese mama's boy Edwin Flagg and his acting is at once grotesque and brilliant. That's Bette's fourteen year old daughter B.D. playing Anna Lee's daughter; she would marry in real life two years later and the marriage is still going strong; in 1985, she would pen her infamous "expose" MY MOTHER'S KEEPER. Davis received her tenth (!) Academy Award nomination for this macabre classic and footage from two of her vintage films PARACHUTE JUMPER & EX-LADY (both 1933) were used to show what a lousy actress Baby Jane was as a young woman - the old movie in which Blanche watches herself with genuine fondness at is a 1934 MGM flick entitled SADIE MCKEE.

Now that this film has been made into a musical (ye Gods!) I had to finally put my say in. This is not a "black comedy". This is not a "camp classic". This is a study in madness and delusion of the first order. Bette Davis should have won the Oscar for her portrayal of Baby Jane Hudson. Her characterization is still macabre after all these years. Her victimization of sister Blanche (a subdued Joan Crawford) is still disturbing in it's demented ferociousness. This is a Hollywood Horror Story. To call it a "horror movie" isn't fair. It's a psychological thriller if you need to place it in a genre. It's a classic film any way you look at it. The TV remake was abysmally unnecessary. And now a musical? Well that should up the sales of the DVD anyway. But "Baby Jane" is too serious subject matter to be called "camp". Blanche is handicapped. She is tormented by her crazed sister over grudges developed years before. The starvation, the physical abuse, the mental torture---these are all too seriously played out to be dismissed as just "camp". These scenes are gripping and squirmish to watch. The movie is too well made to be taken that lightly by cultists and newcomers to it. And the acting is too serious to elicit chuckles instead of shivers. Maybe people need to sit down and watch this again....alone. Maybe it won't seem that campy to them then.

There is something in the cadence of the storytelling of The Red-Eye Fever so directly descended from the pulp novel that it took me by surprise to discover that this wonderfully crafted book was, in fact, a memoir. What leaps off the page aren't the reminiscences of a retired school marm from upstate New York, but more the flexing prose of an erstwhile Hemingway or an underdistributed Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Simply stated, The Red-Eye Fever is a well-spun and well-muscled adventure. Its two-fisted prose provides a refreshing respite from the solipsistic meanderings that so often characterize this genre; its cinematic sense of structure plays neatly against its historical backdrop. If you're tired of the current crop of wan contemporary fiction, The Red-Eye Fever may be exactly what you are craving.

Ms. Dallemagne-Cookson's latgest book chronicles her amazing experiences in the Belgian Congo just prior to its independence in 1960. As a young American woman sent to the Congo on a Foreign Service assignment, she encounters many extraordinary people, including a refugee from World War II committed to crocodile hunting. She joins him and becomes part of the team that ultimately captures and kills El Diablo, a huge crocodile who has been menacing the area for many years. Her descriptions of this hunt and other subsequent hunts are truly fascinating. The reader is literally spellbound! The accompanying photographs provide further realism. The author also touches upon her personal story, relating how she meets her future husband and moves on to the next phase of her remarkable life. We owe Ms. Dallemagne-Cookson a debt of gratitude for sharing her unforgettable story with us. A must read for people of all ages!

Ms. Dallemagne-Cookson's newest book chronicles her amazing experiences in the Belgian Congo just prior to its independence in 1960. As a young American woman sent to the Congo on a Foreign Service assignment she encounters many extraordinary people, including a refugee from World War II committed to crocodile hunting. She joins him and becomes part of the team that ultimately captures and kills El Diablo, a huge crocodile who has been menacing the area for many years. Her descriptions of this hunt and other subsequent hunts are truly fascinating. The reader is literally spellbound! The accompanying photographs provide further realism. The author also touches upon her personal story, relating how she meets her future husband and moves on to the next phase of her remarkable life. We owe Ms. Dallemagne-Cookson a debt of gratitude for sharing her unforgettable story with us. A must read for people of all ages!