This is a terrific tale about four women summoned by the eastern star.
It is the exotic true-life stories of some key women in western history. They are Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, Jane Digby, and Isabelle Eberhardt.
They all took great risks, whether it was their choice or not, and ended up either pursuing their passion for romance or in Aimee Dubucq de Rivery’s case, making the best of it.
For the four women included in this classic volume of biography, the wilder shores of love lay east of their native Europe—in Arabia.
* Victorian Isabel Arundell married the defiantly unorthodox social outlaw and adventurer Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMB FRGS (1821-1890) an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. Whew!
His many adventures included traveling to Mecca in 1853 disguised as a pilgrim.
His service in the diplomatic corps took he and Isabel to Syria and Palestine and she wrote a book about thei
r travels together.
During his final years as British Consul in Trieste he translated and privately printed books on erotica.
They are buried together in a tomb designed as a Bedouin Tent. How great it is.
• Aimee Dubucq de Rivery was a convent girl, who grew up on the island of Martinique with her friend Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie (later Empress Josephine). She was abducted by Corsair pirates when she was on the way to France to attend ‘finishing school’ . She was presented to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, ending up in his Harem and bearing him a son.
Aimee underwent many hardships and lived to see her son Sultan. She supported her friend and cousin Empress Josephine from afar when Napoleon Bonaparte divorced her. She had a quiet, back seat, mostly unknown effect on his and France’s future. You will have to read the book to find out how, where, when and why. The story of her survival, against all odds, is perhaps my favourite.
• Then there is the raffish, very glamorous divorcée Jane Digby. Her father founded the family fortune on the prize money he gained seizing a Spanish treasure ship, Santa Brigada, in 1799. Her first three marriages and notorious extramarital affairs were amongst the biggest scandals of her day. Bad press did not deter her though and when she fancied living in a Bedouin tent with her fourth husband, Sheik Abdul Madjuel El Mezrab, she did. Fortunately they shared 28 happy years together and she befriended Isabel and Richard Burton when he was British Consul in Damascus.
Images Left to Right: Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery, Jane Digby, Isabelle Eberhardt
• Isabelle Eberhardt preferred the Sahara, and if you are going to live in a dessert why not the most famous one in the world. She entered the world of desert Arabs dressed as a man. During her brief life (she died age 27) she converted to Islam and became heavily involved in helping the poor and needy while fighting against the injustices of colonial rule
Love, wanderlust, faraway places—all that Romance implies—make up this delicious book. It is ideal reading.
The Author – Lesley Blanch MBE (1904 – 2007)
Scholarly, romantic, celebrated author and distinguished traveler Lesley Blanch influenced and inspired generations of writers, readers and critics. She pioneered a new kind of group biography focusing on women escaping the boredom of convention, and has remained in print in English since original publication in 1954.
She was one of the last of those who actually knew something of the Middle East as it once was, before conflict and turmoil became the essence of relations between the Arab World and the West.
Lesley Blanch died in 2007 after leading a full life leaving many works as her legacy, including this amazing work. I have to say that my very worn dog eared copy, given to me by a dear friend, who travels a great deal in the Middle East, testifies to the fact it is one of my all time favourites.
The Wilder Shores of Love is still available.
The Culture Concept recommends the
Online Book Site Book Offers – www.bookoffers.com.au
It has an amazing search engine that produces the best price in the world for you at the exact moment you are searching. The book is usually delivered to your door within a few days.
If you would like to consider purchasing The Wilder Shores of Love. Click here www.bookoffers.com.au
Related posts:
Discussion
No comments for “FAVOURITE BOOKS: The Wilder Shores of Love by Lesley Blanch”
POST A COMMENT ON FACEBOOK