July Meeting

July’s meeting was held at Sharon’s home. We discussed the autobiography,West with the Night by Beryl Markham, which was actually Stephanie’s book selection. After a delicious meal, and an uplifting update on Nick Calhoun’s recovery progress, we had a very interesting discussion about the book, and especially about the author. Several members had researched the author, and the rest of us were intrigued to find that the autobiography omitted quite a few details about Ms Markham’s personal life—that she had a brother, whom her mother had taken back to England, as he was sickly, and she did not like Africa. Also, she was married at one time to a writer, and also had several affairs, including with Denys Finch Hatten, who also had an affair with Isak Dinesen (Karen Von Blixen-Finecke), as she wrote about in Out of Africa. We also had quite a discussion regarding whether she (or her writer husband) actually wrote the book. All in all, it was a great book club meeting.
Submitted by Gloria