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Feb 04, 2017DorisWaggoner rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Having read the novel "Circling the Sun" about Markham's life, and "Out of Africa," Isak Dinesen's memoir, in which Markham appears, I was eager to read Markham's own memoir. While she's a wonderful descriptive writer about Africa, the book disappoints. The edition I read has an intro by Sara Wheeler, which points out that Markham doesn't mention any of her three husbands, or her son. A private person, indeed. Dinesen's memoir says that Denys Hatton Finch invited her along on what turned out to be his fatal flight; Markham claims it was her, and never mentions Dinesen at all. But Dinesen's ex, "Blixt" has a prominent role in the elephant hunting section. All this is confusing. Yet Beryl's description of her African childhood rings totally true: barefoot, Swahili as her first language, a pet zebra, taught to hunt by the Native boys, as does her mutual adoration for her horse-trainer father. A completely passionate person, how does she later switch completely from horses to flying? The book feels more like a string of well-written, but too often disconnected, essays than a well put together memoir.