Hudson, a young Englishman, spent 14 months in a village in Gambia. He originally intended only to observe the community, but as time passed, he became an active participant in the rituals of a people who inhabit termite-infested huts, live near dangerous bush and are entirely reliant on an annual rainy season for survival. PW called this a "perceptive first book."

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Hudson’s books are diverse in subject matter, but united by their approach which incorporates elements of history, travel writing, cultural criticism and personal participation. As a journalist Hudson has written extensively about African music and culture, and two of his books are set in Africa. Our Grandmothers' Drums, based on a year spent living in a village in the Gambia, described the author’s personal and emotional involvement in village life with a frankness unusual in either travel writing or anthropology.‘I have rarely read a book of greater passion or honesty,’ wrote the Sunday Times.[4] While the book’s candidness attracted some criticism, particularly in the U.S., it won two literary awards, Thomas Cook Travel Book Award (1990) and Somerset Maugham Award (1990).