Review of Juliet Barnes (2013), The Ghosts of Happy Valley: Searching for the Lost World of Africa’s Infamous Aristocrats . London: Aurum. In The Ghosts of Happy Valley (hereafter, Ghosts ), Juliet Barnes gives an account of her investigations into the lives and deaths of a small group of white Europeans who settled in Wanjohi Valley (or ‘Happy Valley’) in the 1920s and 1930s. To give you an idea of the tone and its intended audience: Ghosts book was reviewed positively in The Spectator (but you'll have to take my word for it - it’s behind a paywall). Solomon Gitau (l) and Juliet Barnes (r) at Clouds House in Nyandarua. Photo (c) Eliud Maumo 2019 It is clear from the sheer number of books about Happy Valley, that there remains a great deal of public interest in the salacious and exaggerated stories of this historical neighbourhood. With her friend Solomon Gitau by her side, Barnes travelled throughout Wanjohi Valley over a period of many years, tracking down and visiting the for