“Linda Johnston Muhlhausen’s “Elephant Mountain” is an engrossing, beautiful novel about love, music, Uganda, and the interplay of wisdom and naivete that make adulthood alternately pleasurable and painful. Imagine “Out of Africa” with Ann Patchett flourishes, and you’ll know what to expect from this extraordinary book.”
Josh Emmons, author of The Loss of Leon Meed; Prescription for a Superior Existence; and A Moral Tale and Other Moral Tales
Elephant Mountain is a lucidly written coming-of-age story of a young Peace Corps volunteer who has to grapple with her uncertainty and youthful insecurities—sexually, socially, and politically—as her idealism collides against the harsh, but sometimes piquant realities of the world at large. Set in the beautiful country of Uganda during the time it was under the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin, Elephant Mountain rings sharply with lived truth.
Daniel Weeks, author of A More Prosaic Light: Essays, Revisions, and Reviews, 1987-2015
Elephant Mountain is that rare book with lyrical writing that sings along in the background as the plot drives you forward. From the first sentence, I was drawn into this dangerous slice of time, cheering for the imperfect Laurel, entranced by the descriptions of Africa and especially the seemingly magical Elephant Mountain. The specter of the bloodthirsty madman, Idi Amin Dada, haunts the story since the reader knows what Laurel doesn’t—that her life is in peril from the moment she stepped onto that bus. Definitely a book club read.
Karen Wilk, founding member, The Happy Bookers
Elephant Mountain 