Listening for Lions

Set in 1919 British East Africa, the story follows thirteen-year-old Rachel Sheridan, the daughter of English missionaries who run Tumaini, a small mission hospital on the plains near Nairobi. Rachel's parents, both orphans raised in a strict church orphanage in England, were sent to serve the Kikuyu and Masai peoples. Africa is the only home Rachel has ever known. Her father treats diseases and trains Kikuyu medical staff, while her mother teaches at the mission school. Kanoro, a Kikuyu man who has helped raise Rachel since childhood, serves as her protector and guide. After Rachel turns twelve, her father assigns her to work in the hospital, where she develops practical medical skills.

When the influenza epidemic reaches Tumaini, Rachel's father orders her away from the hospital. Cases multiply. On a Sunday when neither parent comes home, Rachel conducts a brief church service herself. Afterward, Kanoro tells her that her mother is ill. Rachel rushes to the hospital and learns her mother has just died. At the burial, the Pritchards, a neighboring sisal plantation family, arrive with their daughter Valerie, who is gravely ill. Rachel's father admits the girl but refuses to clear African patients from a ward as Mr. Pritchard demands. That evening, Valerie dies. The next morning, Rachel's father dies too, leaving Rachel an orphan.

Rachel goes to the Pritchards' house to telephone for help. Their Kikuyu servant mistakes her for Valerie because of her ginger hair, and Mrs. Pritchard's expression turns greedy when she learns Rachel has no living relatives. Mr. Pritchard telephones Nairobi, which cannot spare a doctor, and cables the mission board. He insists Rachel stay with them. That evening, Rachel overhears the Pritchards tell friends that Valerie is alive and Rachel is dead. The next morning, Mrs. Pritchard reveals her scheme: Valerie had been scheduled to visit her grandfather in England, a wealthy, gravely ill man who has never met his granddaughter. Mrs. Pritchard wants Rachel to impersonate Valerie, arguing that news of the girl's death would kill the old man. She appeals to Rachel's Christian duty and hints at the grandfather's wealth. Torn between conscience and dread of the orphanage, Rachel submits. For three days, Mrs. Pritchard drills her on Valerie's identity and family history.

Rachel sneaks out and treks through the dangerous bush back to Tumaini, narrowly avoiding a leopard. Kanoro is stunned; he believes her dead. The Pritchards' men have buried an empty coffin in the churchyard with a cross bearing Rachel's name. Rachel asks to stay with Kanoro's people, but he explains the colonial government would accuse them of abducting her. He walks her back and tells her to be like the lion, gathering her strength and awaiting her time. At the Pritchards' house, Mrs. Pritchard shakes Rachel violently, and bars are installed across her bedroom window.

Mrs. Pritchard accompanies Rachel by train to the port city of Mombasa and places her in the care of Miss Limplinger, a governess hired to watch over her during the voyage. Throughout the weeks at sea, Rachel must answer to Valerie's name. She resolves that the moment she reaches England, she will confess everything to the grandfather's solicitor.

At Southampton, Mr. Grumbloch, the grandfather's stern solicitor, meets Rachel. He warns her that the Pritchards are greedy and that the estate is willed to the Royal Bird Society, a conservation organization the grandfather supports. Rachel tries to tell the truth, but Mr. Grumbloch insists the grandfather is near death and must see her at once. They drive to Stagsway, the family's Tudor-style estate, where carved lions on the stairway posts remind Rachel of Kanoro's parting words.

Grandfather is bedridden but softens when he touches Rachel's hair. He notes she is not what he expected and mentions wanting two things before dying: to see his granddaughter and to see the recognition of a thrush subspecies he discovered, Hylocichla guttata pritchardi, which the Royal Bird Society has refused to accept. He assigns Rachel to be his eyes outdoors, giving her lists of birds to find and report on. Rachel begins telling him stories about "her friend Rachel" and life at Tumaini, speaking with unmistakable personal feeling. Despite the Pritchards' letters instructing her to manipulate the grandfather, Rachel cannot betray the old man she has come to love. When Grandfather asks what she would do with a great deal of money, she answers without thinking that she would rebuild the hospital at Tumaini.

The Pritchards arrive at Stagsway in September. Mrs. Pritchard privately threatens to have Rachel imprisoned for impersonation unless she convinces Grandfather to leave the estate to the family rather than the Royal Bird Society. When Grandfather asks Rachel directly whether his plan is foolish, she affirms it is a fine idea. Grandfather orders the Pritchards to a flat in London. Mr. Pritchard takes Rachel with them as leverage, but the elderly butler, Burker, slips a note from Grandfather into Rachel's hand containing money and Mr. Grumbloch's address.

In London, Rachel climbs out the window and takes a taxi to Mr. Grumbloch's chambers. She confesses she is not Valerie. To her astonishment, Mr. Grumbloch calls her Rachel: He and Grandfather have known almost from the beginning. Rachel's stories about "her friend Rachel," told with deep feeling, gave her away. Mr. Grumbloch confirmed her identity through the mission board and obtained photographs. Grandfather grew fond of Rachel and chose to wait for her to reveal the truth on her own. Mr. Grumbloch confronts the Pritchards and delivers Grandfather's terms: an allowance, but no further contact. On the drive back to Stagsway, he shows Rachel adoption papers giving her the name Rachel Pritchard. She is grateful for a home but privately mourns losing Rachel Sheridan once more.

Rachel and Grandfather speak openly for the first time. He reveals that his son's gambling and theft from the estate drove his wife to her death and led Grandfather to banish him to Africa. He calls Rachel a great gift. Grandfather sends her to Ditchley, a boarding school in Sussex, where she struggles socially before her passionate account of Tumaini wins over her classmates. She excels academically while secretly resolving to become a doctor and return to Africa. After finishing school, Rachel delays university to stay with Grandfather as he weakens. She confesses her dream of returning to Tumaini as a doctor, and he says he knows she will do what she wants.

On Saint George's Day, Grandfather hears his thrush singing and dies. Mr. Pernick, the director of the Royal Bird Society, announces that the society has officially recognized Hylocichla guttata pritchardi, with Rachel's field notes making the difference. Grandfather's will leaves the estate to the society and a significant inheritance to Rachel.

At eighteen, Rachel enters the London School of Medicine for Women, endures a hostile residency at Westminster Hospital, and qualifies as a physician. She offers the mission society her inheritance to reopen Tumaini on the condition they accept a woman doctor.

After a four-week voyage, Rachel returns to Africa and drives to Tumaini, where nature has reclaimed everything. Only the churchyard crosses remain. Ngigi, Kanoro's son, now a young married man, steps from the bush wearing a piece of a stethoscope around his neck. He has been tending the graves on his father's orders, keeping faith with Rachel's promise to return. Rachel treats Kanoro, now frail with severe malaria, and begins rebuilding with the help of former hospital staff. In the evenings, she sits on her porch listening to the lions roar, acknowledging the troubles ahead but holding on to the meaning of Tumaini: the Swahili word for hope.