Bert and Mamie Take a Cruise
Adventure and Africa have called to Bert Mason for years, although it must be said his only reference points come from books and movies. Conversely, his wife Mamie has no interest in seeing anything outside of Hills Corner, Ohio, until sets eyes on the pyramids. Keyse-Walker takes us on a round-Africa tour aboard Columbus, a Norddeutscher Lloyd liner. Bert and Mamie are assigned a very personable steward, from the mostly German staff, who makes a great cuppa joe, and turns out to be more than he appears. Leaving New York in February 1939, readers sail to Casablanca, Tenerife, Dakar, Cape Town, Madagascar, Mombasa, Nairobi, Zanzibar, Khartoum, Luxor, and Cairo, luxuriating in lush, vibrant detail (sometimes desert and dust) at each stop. Whether or not the Masons are enamoured, readers are treated to a fabulous virtual tour.
Two humourless Nazi officers are stationed aboard the ship to guide her back into German territorial waters, should war break out. Sturmbannführer Heissemeyer, so well represented he made my skin crawl, is loathed by everyone. When he goes overboard, he isn’t much missed, but Mamie, as witness, may be in danger. The Masons are charged with finding the killer for the sole reason that Bert played deputy sheriff for a few weeks! As passengers confide their life stories to the down-to-earth Mamie, the suspect list grows.
Chapters alternate between Bert and Mamie’s wry perspective, and are headed by quotes from the 1939 round-Africa-tour brochure. Their differing points-of-view have all the endearing quirks of a long-married couple, adding colour and realism. I found myself experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime trip right along with them. Using his characters’ backstories, the author sheds light on the horror Hitler and his Nazi party were already unleashing upon the world, grounding the trip firmly in history. An excellent read.
