Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Caroline Alexander was motivated to follow in Mary Kingsley's footsteps through West Africa by a sentence in her Travels in West Africa: 'If you go there, you will find things as I have said.' To some extent she did, but toward the end she found that 'this had become my own journey.' It was in some ways easier for Alexander: she was not burdened by long skirts and high-necked blouses. But she did not have Kingsley's scientific motivation, and she had not thought and planned for as long a time to make a journey of this nature. Both women have an easy narrative style, but, all things considered, Kingsley is the better and more interesting writer." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)