Joy Adamson : Behind the Mask

Virginia Dwyer

Cass, a native Kenyan, has written a rather gossipy account of the woman known to most people simply as the conservationist who raised and returned Elsa the lion to the wild. Joy Adamson was much more. Her husbands, her lovers, and her rages and their consequences are given equal time with her achievements. In addition to spearheading the drive to save wild animals, Adamson used her great skill as an amateur painter to document flowers and native tribes of Kenya in hundreds of commissioned paintings. She also outdid many men in athletic skill and stamina, not to mention sexual pursuit. Her personal courage and passions are documented, but her motivations remain murky. Cass doesn't probe her character deeply but lets the story rip, which was the way Joy lived it. An intriguing read.