Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark

491 Pages·2001·5.44 MB·English

by  Jane Fletcher Geniesse

Praise for Jane Fletcher Geniesse’s
P N : T L F S
ASSIONATE OMAD HE IFE OF REYA TARK
“Geniesse tells Stark’s story straightforwardly and without fuss, allowing her
eventful life, rather than a lot of commentary on it, to produce a lively and
flavorful narrative.… The woman who emerges from these pages is a complex
figure—heroic, driven, lonely, and entirely human.”
—The New York Times
“Fascinating … [Geniesse] has achieved, in the end, an admirable focus, at once
critical and sympathetic. The portrait that emerges is a subtle and generous one.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Passionate Nomad is a work of nonfiction that reads and sings with the drama and
lilt of a fine novel. The story of Freya Stark is stunning, inspiring, sad, funny,
unique, moving. Jane Fletcher Geniesse tells it straight, but with a care for delicious
detail and a sympathy for the characters that makes this a truly special book.”
—JIM LEHRER
“Geniesse helps us understand why a woman of genius was wildly unrealistic in her
personal relations.”
—The New Yorker
“Passionate Nomad is a thorough, vividly written account of one of the twentieth
century’s most intrepid travelers.”
—LARRY MCMURTRY
“Compulsively readable … [Geniesse] has done a thorough job recreating the life of
a woman many consider to be the last of the great romantic travelers.”
—The Plain Dealer (CLEVELAND)
“Geniesse has made an inexhaustibly spirited and entertaining story of [Stark’s life]
… A just and generous portrait of a truly remarkable woman.”
—The Observer (LONDON)
“Passionate Nomad is a lickety-split read, fun, fast-paced and exciting…. Only real
life—and a remarkable biographer—could have fashioned a character as fascinating
as Freya Stark.”
—PETER BENCHLEY
“A worthwhile, stylish, and thoroughly researched biography of a fascinatingly
complex, often exasperating woman.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Freya Stark was one of the most intrepid adventurers of all time…. Jane Fletcher
Geniesse brings to life this intense, original personality and her often dangerous
exploits.”
—Travel + Leisure
Also by Jane Fletcher Geniesse
FICTION
The Riches of Life
NONFICTION
The Attorney’s Appetite
The New York Woman’s Directory (contributor)
Living Well (contributor)

This book is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Francis Fletcher (1934–1984),
Professor of Chinese and Central Asian History, Harvard University. He was a gifted
scholar whose command of Slavic, Arabic, Turco-Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu, and
Chinese languages gave him a clear view of that vast but scarcely understood region
whose borders run from the Caucasus to the China Sea. Edward, Bob, Tom, Julia, and
I miss him. He was the best of friends, my brother.
Acknowledgments
My extended adventure at the side of Freya Stark has left me indebted to many talented
and generous people on both sides of the Atlantic. First, there would have been no book
had my dear friend and editor, Kate Medina of Random House, not encouraged me to
write it, endured my slow start, and finally put me in the hands of her wonderful
colleagues: Olga Seham—whose sensitive commentary was invaluable—the legendary
Sam Vaughan, the indispensable and gracious Lee Boudreaux, and Barbara Bachman,
Robbin Schiff, Deborah Foley, Benjamin Dreyer, Susan Brown, and all the others who
made the experience, and the book, beautiful. I am deeply grateful to them all.
A corps of unmatchable friends helped me in countless ways: Wren Wirth, Wendy
Benchley, Madge Huntington, and Edmée Firth read the manuscript, and Edmée
translated all of Antonin Besse’s letters, a heroic task done with nuance and flair. Dr.
Lois de Menil translated and encouraged, while Noelle del Drago undertook an
interview for me in Switzerland. When Henry Catto was our ambassador to the Court of
St. James, he and Jessica threw a grand party at Winfield House that broke the ice
among Freya’s friends. The invitation from Dr. Helena Lewis to speak at Harvard was a
grand stimulus, while Alix and Tom Devine, and Susan and Peter Nitze, on a variety of
research missions abroad, provided lively company. Forde Medina encouraged with
pesky questions; at a shaky moment, Tim Wirth sent flowers; and with exquisite timing,
Peter Benchley intervened to see that the book title was right. Dr. Betty Ann Ottinger,
Dr. Arnold Cooper, and Dr. Judith Nowack provided psychological insight into Freya’s
character. My thanks also to Ann Banks at the Fishers Island Library and to the
librarians at the Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, the Library of
Congress, and especially the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., where Betsy
Folkins pointed the way to many good sources, and even after relocating to Iowa gave
the manuscript a careful read, as did Nameer Jawdat.
In Paris, Antonin B. Besse was consistently helpful and supportive. In London, my
husband and I found a true friend in Barclay Larsson, whose family has long been
entwined with the Starks. Together with her husband, Theo, and son, James, the
Larssons’ generosity has been boundless. I also discovered how loyal the Murrays of the
John Murray publishing family are to Freya’s memory. Jock and Diana let me interview
them a number of times, and John and Virginia, in addition to patiently responding to
numerous inquiries and requests, gave me their generous permission to quote Freya’s
own inimitable words from works published and unpublished. They were seconded by
Michael Russell, who published eight volumes of Freya’s letters, and the writer Caroline
Moorehead, who edited them after her mother’s death. It has been a pleasure to know
her and benefit from her memories and those of her brother John, whose parents, Alan
and Lucy, were such close friends to Freya. I loved every Harrod’s take-out lunch given
me by E. C. Hodgkin, as well as his wry wisdom. Pamela Cooper and her son the
Honorable Malise Ruthven were both helpful and delightful to know and contributed
many insights, as did Xandra Hardie; Peggy Drower Hackforth-Jones; the Viscount
Norwich; his daughter the Honorable Artemis Cooper and son-in-law Anthony Beevor;
Hermione, the Countess of Ranfurly; Veronica Bamfield; Doreen Ingrams and her
daughter Leila; Sir Isaiah Berlin; Ambassador Boris Bianchieri; Lord Sherfield; the
Marchioness of Cholmondeley; Countessa Anna Maria Cicogna; Nigel Clive; Hugh Leach;
Richard and Bridget Sawers, who invited me to see Ford Park; and Sarah Bowen of the
BBC, who shared her thoughts and sent her radio program on Freya. Special thanks to
Colin Luke, whose documentary films on Freya’s last adventures are hilarious and
touching, and to Molly Izzard, Freya’s English biographer, who both heaped documents
on me and treated me to a fascinating afternoon at her lovely house in Tunbridge Wells.
Of Americans who remembered Freya, I am grateful for the time and memories
shared by John Beach, Evelyn Lambert, H. C. Bailey, Jennifer Hamilton, John Guest,
and Helene Sullivan Walker, for whom Asolo stirred such poignant memories.
Many others here and in Europe shared their memories and/or gave help: Susan Mary
Alsop, George and Lucy Adams, Sir Philip and Lady Adams, Mark Heathcote Amory,
Rosie Rodd Baldwin, Giorgio Bastianon, Janet and Henry Berens, Betsy Birch, Franco
Boido, Jane Boulanger, Jac Chambliss, Mariela Camara, Zia Chishti, Harold Costello,
Missy Crisp, Contessa Mariuccia deLord, Jacqueline de Chollet, Joy de Menil, Contessa
Laura Loridon, Elizabeth Drury, the Dowager Lady Egremont, Emma Menegon, the Duke
of Grafton, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Lady Henrietta Fitzroy, Lord Gibson, Sir Martin Gilliat,
Charles Harding, Father Donald Harris, Derek Hill, Lady Marie Noelle Kelly, Nadia
Lavalle, Lord Boyd of Merton and Lady Boyd, Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd, Osyth Leason,
Gertrude Legendre, Professor Seton Lloyd, Felicity Long-more, Alexander Maitland, Jan
Morris, Joanna and Freydys Murray, Ned O’Gorman, Princess Osman-Oghlu, R. G.
Penson, Leslie Perowne, Caroli Piaser, Alan Punchard, Meaghan Rady, Sir Frank and
Lady Roberts, Lady Joan Robertson, Jim and Pam Rose, Sir Steven Runciman, Sheridan
Russell, Sir Michael and Damaris Stewart, Lucretia Stewart, Wilfrid Thesinger, Colin
Thubron, Thor and Virginia Thors, Mario Valmarano, John and Susanna Vernon,
Richard Waller, Lavinia Wallop, Lady Teresa Waugh, Lavender Goddard-Wilson, Francis
Witts, Sir Paul and Lady Wright, and the many, many others who buoyed my spirits
over the long haul.
My children, Tom and Julia, who long ago ceased asking “Freya who?” in favor of
affirming faith and enthusiasm, were a joy to be with when they could come along.
Lastly, especially, and above all, I thank their gallant father, Robert, who through thick
and thin has been my champion, my strong oak, and my dearest traveling companion.