from the cover:

"Nominated for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction, Passionate Nomad captures the momentous life and times of Freya Stark with precision, compassion, and marvelous detail. Hailed by The Times of London as 'the last of the Romantic Travellers' upon her death in 1993, Freya Stark combined unflappable bravery, formidable charm, fearsome intellect, and ferocious ambition to become the twentieth century's best-known woman traveler. Digging beneath the mythology, Geniesse uncovers a complex, controversial, and quixotic woman whose indomitable spirit was forged by contradictions: a child of privilege, Stark grew up in near poverty; yearning for formal education, she was largely self-taught; longing for love, she consistently focused on the wrong men. Despite these hardships, Stark's astonishing career spanned more than sixty years, during which she produced twenty-two books that sealed her reputation as a consummate woman of letters. This edition includes a new Epilogue by the author that, citing newly discovered evidence, calls into question the circumstances of Stark's birth and adds new insight into this adventurous and lively personality."

This is superbly readable. I've read all of Freya Stark's books but I knew very little about her personal life. There was much about her to admire, and some things to not admire quite so much. This is a balanced portrait and highly entertaining.

Playground seating area at Cleveland and S Jeff Davis

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