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Book Review of West with the Night

West with the Night
allister avatar reviewed on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


This is perhaps my favorite book I've ever read. Plot-wise, it is the autobiography of a woman who grew up in East Africa in the early 20th century. It is marvelous -- the quote from Hemingway should sell it if we can't. There are some racist undertones that are probably appropriate for the time and place of this book, albeit shocking now.

Scholars debate whether this book was actually written by Hemingway himself. He was her lover, and so seldom praised other writers' works. Markham, after penning this masterpiece, never wrote anything else. The book does have a Hemingway flavor to it.