Synopses & Reviews
Nina Sovich had always yearned for adventures in faraway places; she imagined herself leading the life of a solitary traveler. Yet at the age of thirty-four, she found herself married and contemplating motherhood. Catching her reflection in a window spotted with Paris rain, she no longer saw the fearless woman who spent her youth travelling in Cairo, Lahore, and the West Bank staring back at her. Unwittingly, she had followed lifeand#8217;s script, and now she needed to cast it out. Inspired by female explorers like Mary Kingsley, who explored Gabonand#8217;s jungle in the 1890s, and Karen Blixen, who ran a farm in Kenya during World War I, Sovich packed her bags and hopped on the next plane to Africa in search of adventure. To the Moon and Timbuktu takes readers on a fast-paced trek through Western Sahara, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, bringing their textures and flavors into vivid relief. On Sovichand#8217;s travels, she encounters rough-and-tumble Chinese sailors, a Venezuelan doctor working himself to death in Chinguetti, indifferent French pensioners RVing along the coast, and a close-knit circle of Nigerien women who adopt her into their fold, showing her the promise of Africaand#8217;s future. This lyrical memoir will transport you to the breathtaking landscapes of West Africa, whose stark beauties will instill wonder in even the most experienced traveler. Sovichand#8217;s journey reveals that sometimes we must pursue that distant glimmer on the horizon in order to find the things we value most.
Synopsis
With classic simplicity and a painter's feeling for atmosphere and detail, Isak Dinesen tells of the years she spent from 1914 to 1931 managing a coffee plantation in Kenya.
Synopsis
At the age of twenty-seven, Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) left Denmark and sailed for East Africa to marry her Swedish cousin, Baron Bror Blixen. Together they bought a four-thousand-acre coffee plantation in Kenya. From 1914 to 1931 she managed the plantation, even after she and her husband separated. Her account of those years is transformed by the magic of her prose and her supreme gift as a storyteller into a vibrant re-creation of Africa, filled with her affection for and understanding of the land and its people.
Synopsis
Feeling directionless in Paris and inspired by the explorers of another era, Nina Sovich packs her bags and hops on the next plane to West Africa in search of adventure, where a fast-paced trek through Mali, Mauritania, and Niger prove that itand#8217;s the travelerand#8217;s journey, not the destination, that is the reward.
About the Author
Isak Dinesen is the pseudonym of Karen Blixen, born in Denmark in 1885. After her marriage in 1914 to Baren Bror Blixen, she and her husband lived in British East Africa, where they owned a coffee plantation. She was divorced from her husband in 1921 but continued to manage the plantation for another ten years, until the collapse of the coffee market forced her to sell the property and return to Denmark in 1931. There she began to write in English under the nom de plume Isak Dinesen. Her first book, and literary success, was Seven Gothic Tales. It was followed by Out of Africa, The Angelic Avengers (written under the pseudonym Pierre Andrézel), Winter's Tales, Last Tales, Anecdotes of Destiny, Shadows on the Grass and Ehrengard. She died in 1962.
Table of Contents
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;I. ?????
1.and#160;Hotel in Dakhlaand#8195;3
2.and#160;Connecticut Childhoodand#8195;8
3.and#160;First Freedomand#8195;15
4.and#160;Oak Treeand#8195;20
5.and#160;Breadcrumbs in Parisand#8195;22
6.and#160;A Victorian Travelerand#8195;27
7.and#160;Nowhereand#8195;33
8.and#160;My Fishesand#8195;39
and#160;and#160;and#160; II. WESTERN SAHARA
9.and#160;Coffee in Casablancaand#8195;45
10.and#160;The Cold Atlanticand#8195;51
11.and#160;The Bleak Desertand#8195;60
12.and#160;The Love of Homeand#8195;65
13.and#160;Trumping Comfortand#8195;70
14.and#160;Slow Fearand#8195;75
15.and#160;Hitchhiking at the Borderand#8195;83
16.and#160;Death and Dyingand#8195;88
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; III. MAURITANIA
17.and#160;A Boy from Bordeauxand#8195;97
18.and#160;Mood on the Streetsand#8195;103
19.and#160;Nouakchottand#8195;107
20.and#160;Slate Mountainsand#8195;112
21.and#160;The Lothario of Chinguettiand#8195;118
22.and#160;Fortune Tellersand#8195;126
23.and#160;The Good Doctorand#8195;134
24.and#160;The Good Doctorand#8201;and#8212;and#8201;Part IIand#8195;147
25.and#160;Gnostic Lifeand#8195;156
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;IV. MALI
26.and#160;Bamakoand#8195;163
27.and#160;Boubousand#8195;177
28.and#160;Campari by the Riverand#8195;184
29.and#160;The Talismanand#8195;192
30.and#160;Patienceand#8195;197
31.and#160;Tyranny and the Mosqueand#8195;201
32.and#160;The Road to Timbuktuand#8195;206
33.and#160;Whatand#8217;s in a Name?and#8195;212
34.and#160;Faking Devotionand#8195;220
35.and#160;Dogon Countryand#8195;227
36.and#160;Madness and Cocoa Butterand#8195;236
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; V. PARIS
37.and#160;The Quietand#8195;243
38.and#160;A French Doctorand#8195;250
39.and#160;Panicand#8195;256
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; VI. NIGER
40.and#160;Niameyand#8195;263
41.and#160;Women of the Bookand#8195;271
42.and#160;Fashion Showand#8195;283
43.and#160;Free from Loveand#8195;294
44.and#160;Homeand#8195;299
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Acknowledgmentsand#8195;305
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Bibliographyand#8195;307
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; About the Authorand#8195;309