The Zodiac Arch - Couverture souple

'50 years' worth of thoughtful essays from the Mistress of the Middle East'
Wanderlust

'Stark's old-fashioned ease of writing its mixture of emotional distance and telling detail can be seen in her vivid recollection of the sagging shoulders and bleached fur of a chained bear led by gypsies along a road in Turkey.'
Lindsay Duguid, Times Literary Supplement

'Stark's engaging miscellany brings into focus a lifetime of wanderlust. The account of her worst ever journey , in agony while crossing the north Atlantic during wartime, is typical of her wonderful, yet gripping understatement.'
Tom Adair, The Scotsman

'a scintillating tapestry of reflections and experiences from her travels in the Middle East... her eloquent prose conjures up lost worlds and a formidable free spirit.'
Juanita Coulson, The Lady

'One of the finest travel writers of our century.'
New Yorker

'Freya Stark remains unexcelled as an interpreter of brief encounters in wild regions against the backdrop of history.' --Observer

'Few writers have the capacity to do with words what Faberge could do with gems to fashion them, without violating their quality. It is this extraordinary talent which sets Freya Stark apart from her fellow craftsman in the construction of books on travel.' --The Daily Telegraph

'One of the finest travel writers of our century.' --The New Yorker

With such tantalising chapters as In Defence of Smuggling and Lunch with Homer this witty, eye-opening tapestry of writings on travel and a life spent as one of the 20th century's most formidable adventuresses is Freya Stark at her luminous best. In chronological order, spanning an extraordinary 50 years, from 1919 to 1967, Stark's writings range from eloquent musings on the nature of travel, of being a woman - both writer and explorer - in what was then predominantly a male world and jewel-bright stories from across the world - Arabia to North Africa, Iran and India - that captivate the reader with every sentence. There are romantic picnics under starlit skies on remote islands, meaningful moments of quiet in Mecca and Jerusalem and heartfelt accounts of encounters with a kaleidoscope of people. The Zodiac Arch resurrects many lost worlds, but it is also a lodestar for all those under the spell of wanderlust.