Picture of author.

Beryl Markham (1902–1986)

Author of West with the Night

2+ Works 3,830 Members 134 Reviews 8 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: Beryl Markham circa 1930. Unknown author

Works by Beryl Markham

Associated Works

The Norton Book of Women's Lives (1993) — Contributor — 409 copies
Maiden Voyages: Writings of Women Travelers (1993) — Contributor — 191 copies
The Dick Francis Treasury of Great Racing Stories (1990) — Contributor — 59 copies
Indiscreet Journeys: Stories of Women on the Road (1989) — Contributor — 59 copies
Nine Faces of Kenya (1990) — Contributor — 54 copies
Horse Stories (2012) — Contributor — 15 copies
Heart Shots: Women Write About Hunting (2003) — Contributor — 6 copies
The Literary Horse: Great Modern Stories About Horses (1995) — Contributor — 6 copies

Tagged

1930s (16) 20th century (34) adventure (90) Africa (433) airplanes (15) audiobook (12) autobiography (195) autobiography/memoir (17) aviation (200) aviatrix (11) Beryl Markham (61) biography (250) Biography & Autobiography (12) biography-memoir (20) book club (13) British (14) East Africa (14) ebook (18) exploration (10) favorites (11) fiction (67) flight (13) flying (62) history (70) horses (33) Kenya (111) Kindle (22) literature (15) memoir (389) non-fiction (324) own (15) pilot (17) pilots (21) read (36) short stories (37) to-read (176) travel (115) unread (22) Virago (14) women (68)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Markham, Beryl
Legal name
Clutterbuck, Beryl (born)
Birthdate
1902-10-26
Date of death
1986-08-03
Gender
female
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Ashwell, Rutland, England, UK
Place of death
Nairobi, Kenya
Places of residence
Ashwell, England, UK
Njoro, Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya
Hollywood, California, USA
Occupations
horse trainer
pilot
short story writer
memoirist
Relationships
Dinesen, Isak (friend)
Short biography
Beryl Markham was a British-born Kenyan who had several careers in her life, all of them adventurous. She was a record-breaking pilot in the pioneer days of aviation, and is best remembered today as the author of the memoir "West with the Night."

Members

Reviews

 
Flagged
BooksInMirror | 125 other reviews | Feb 19, 2024 |
Older books reflect the values of the period when they were written, so yes, there is colonialism and hunting. But this memoir of Beryl Markham's life and adventures was so good. What an independent and amazing life. Highly recommend the audio version - I think the chapter with the horse race may be the best book segment I've heard.
 
Flagged
mmcrawford | 125 other reviews | Dec 5, 2023 |
One of the several memoirs from 20th century British East Africa. I can see why Hemingway might have liked it, since he knew Ms. Markham and her friends, she was an adventurer, she was involved in big game hunting, and her writing has the same colonial class stiff upper lip essence mixed with attractive observations of bygone Africa that Hemingway was drawn to.
It is interesting to see Markham's view of Bror Fredrik von Blixen-Finecke. There is no mention of his wives (especially of his first wife, whose "Out of Africa" is a different and, for my money, more moving work), or of his womanizing and venereal diseases.… (more)
 
Flagged
markm2315 | 125 other reviews | Oct 10, 2023 |
Reason read: TIOLI, adventure, ROOT, alpha
I mostly enjoyed this memoir or autobiography by Beryl Markham. So impressive to have been an independent woman in Africa, trainer of race horses, and a pilot. Not in the ordinary sense of pilots nowadays but in a time when flying was relatively new and Africa quite wild. She flew alone, had her own business. She delivered and she scouted elephants for game hunting. I didn't like to hear about the hunting of the elephants but she really wasn't pro killing of elephants but did not see a reason not to get paid to scout them. The book title is from her last flight recorded in the book which was an effort to fly solo across the Atlantic, west with the night.… (more)
 
Flagged
Kristelh | 125 other reviews | Aug 24, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
2
Also by
9
Members
3,830
Popularity
#6,621
Rating
4.1
Reviews
134
ISBNs
88
Languages
10
Favorited
8

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