Research Catalog

Title

On the wilder shores of love : a Bohemian life / Lesley Blanch ; edited by Georgia de Chamberet.

Author

Blanch, Lesley

Publication

• London : Virago, 2015.
• ©2015

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Chamberet, Georgia de

Description

vii, 448 pages : illustrations, portraits; 24 cm

Summary

Most famous for The Wilder Shores of Love, her book about four women travellers, Lesley Blanch was a scholarly romantic and a bold writer. Her lifelong passion was for Russia, the Balkans and the Middle East. At heart a nomad, she spent the greater part of her life travelling the remote areas her books record so vividly. Born in 1904, she died aged 103, having gone from being a household name to a mysterious and neglected living legend. She was writing about her eccentric Edwardian childhood at her death and that work, never before published, now forms the beginning of this wonderful memoir. Lesley Blanch chose to 'escape the boredom of convention': having first worked as a theatre designer and illustrator, she became British Vogue's features editor during World War II and then, in 1946 she sailed from England to travel the world with her diplomat-novelist husband, Romain Gary. By the time they reached Hollywood in the late 1950s they were literary celebrities. When Gary left her for the young actress, Jean Seberg, Blanch headed East and travelled across Siberia, Outer Mongolia, Turkey, Iran, Samarkand, Afghanistan, Egypt, the Sahara, making her mark as an indefatigable and generous travel writer. Edited by her goddaughter Georgia de Chamberet, who was working with her in her centenary year, this book collects together the story of Blanch's marriage, previously published only in French; a selection of her journalism which brings to life the artistic melting pot that was London between the wars; and a selection of her most evocative travel pieces, to create the story of a fascinating, bohemian - and, at times outrageous - life that spanned the twentieth century. Illustrated with photos alongside a selection of line drawings by Lesley Blanch.

Subject

• Blanch, Lesley > Travel
• Blanch, Lesley
• Authors, English > 20th century > Biography
• Women authors, English > 20th century > Biography

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Part one: Scenes from childhood -- Part two: Scenes from the home front -- Part three: Scenes from a marriage -- Part four: Faraway lands -- Part five: The Eastern eye.

Call Number

JFE 15-5884

ISBN

• 9780349005447 (hardback)
• 0349005443 (hardback)
• 0349005451
• 9780349005454

LCCN

2014472565

OCLC

900793913

Author

Blanch, Lesley, author.

Title

On the wilder shores of love : a Bohemian life / Lesley Blanch ; edited by Georgia de Chamberet.

Publisher

London : Virago, 2015.

Copyright Date

©2015

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Added Author

Chamberet, Georgia de, editor.

Research Call Number

JFE 15-5884