Strangely drawn to Kenya of 100 years ago, I watched again the film "Out of Africa", discovered by chance and purchased on impulse recently in the DVD bargain box at Morrisons. I found this tale of love and loss in an era of imperial certainty compelling to watch. But it was also good film making and great acting and screenplay. The film would be nothing without this, and the writing of Karen Blixen.
Now I can explore further the characters, courtesy of Wikipedia. I bought the auto-biography by Beryl Markham, "West with the Night", a poetic and evocative account of the Kenya of those times, written (some say, ghosted) by Markham late in life describing her early life as a child in the bush, then as a young racehorse trainer, and then as a pilot. The writing is very clear and direct and immediate and her feeling for the country, for horses and, of course, for flying is brilliantly conveyed. She does not touch on the emotional aspect of her life, which, by all accounts, was very lively and included an affair with Blixen's lover, Fynch Hatton. As well as many others. An extraordinary women and a beautiful book about a long lost era.
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