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The author unveils not the fearless wanderer whose mappings and 30 books brought Stark awards from the likes of the Royal Geographical Society and made her a darling of British society. Instead Stark is seen as humble, insecure, and forever caught in the role of perpetual alien--be it when the English-born child grows up in Italy, where her mother lives in scandal, or when she plunges alone into the East, a feat never before accomplished by a Westerner.
An unwilling iconoclast whose love of travel, she would say, began as an infant when her father carried her in a basket over the Dolomites, Stark longed for the social security of the times: marriage and children. Proposals fell through, on occasion her beloved was married, or the romantic emotions she felt went unrequited--and besides, as a friend later pointed out, marriage would have spoiled her with its confinements. Rising above depression, self-imposed ostracism, and her numerous illnesses, Stark learned Arabic and how to climb mountains, map, partake in geographical digs, and find a niche in strange cultures.
Initially ridiculed for her passionate fondness of the Middle East, her writings ultimately generated vast interest for that mysterious part of the world, where she was surprisingly embraced, made privy to political movements closed to most foreigners, and even shown precious Islamic documents. At times a nurse, a war correspondent, a negotiator, Stark was a one-woman revolution of her time. Geniesse's intoxicating documentation of her life not only serves to stir up new interest in Stark's many books; it also ensures that the name Freya Stark will live on long after her obituary is but a scrap of yellowed, crackling newsprint. --Melissa Rossi
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABE-1701218267178
Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. Modern Library pbk. ed. A New York Times Notable Book Finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First NonfictionHighly readable biography . . . The woman who emerges from these pages is a complex figure-heroic, driven . . . and entirely human.-Richard Bernstein, The New York TimesPassionate 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 centurys 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, Starks 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 Starks birth and adds new insight into this adventurous and lively personality.Praise for Passionate NomadPassionate Nomad is a work of nonfiction that reads and sings with the drama and lilt of a fine novel. The story of Freya Stark is stunning, inspiring, sad, funny, unique, and moving. Jane Fletcher Geniesse tells it straight, but with a care for delicious detail and a sympathy for the characters that make this a truly special book.-Jim LehrerPassionate Nomad supplies a fascinating individual thread in the tapestry of twentiethcentury Middle Eastern history. . . . [Geniesse] has achieved, in the end, an admirable focus, at once critical and sympathetic. . . . For all Starks unresolved contradictions, . . . her distinction as a latter-day woman of letters survives.-The New York Times Book ReviewCompulsively readable . . . [Geniesse] has done a thorough job re-creating the life of a woman many consider to be the last of the great romantic travelers.-The Plain Dealer (Cleveland). Seller Inventory # DADAX0375757465
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A solid, judicious, highly readable (New York Times) portrait of Freya Stark-legendary traveler, explorer and woman of letters-that reads and sings with the drama and lilt of a fine novel. (Jim Lehrer). Now in trade paperback comes the first biography published in America of Freya Stark, last of the great female adventurers and one of the most engaging writers of the 20th century. Photos throughout. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780375757464
Book Description Condition: New. pp. xvii + 410, Maps. Seller Inventory # 26741293
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0375757465
Book Description Condition: New. pp. xvii + 410 Illus., Maps. Seller Inventory # 8188018
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780375757464
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Seller Inventory # B9780375757464
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0375757465
Book Description Condition: New. 2001. New edition. Paperback. Series: Modern Library. Num Pages: 406 pages, illustrations. BIC Classification: BG; WTL. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 204 x 132 x 21. Weight in Grams: 392. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780375757464