The classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventureâthe inspiration for Paula McLainâs Circling the Sun and âa bloody wonderful bookâ (Ernest Hemingway). Â Beryl Markhamâs life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landingsâand chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights. Â A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenyaâs unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markhamâs successes and her failuresâand her deep, lifelong love of the âsoul of Africaââare all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Â Hailed as âone of the greatest adventure books of all timeâ by Newsweek and âthe sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anythingâ by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century. Â
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