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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
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Book Description Condition: New. pp. xvii + 410, Maps. Seller Inventory # 26741293
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
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Book Description Condition: New. pp. xvii + 410 Illus., Maps. Seller Inventory # 8188018
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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