West with the Night

In her Introduction, biographer Sara Wheeler gives a historical overview of Markham’s narrative, beginning with her crash-landing in a muddy Nova Scotia field in 1936. She describes Markham’s birth in England and departure for British East Africa at age four, not returning until she was an adult. Wheeler lingers on the author’s unfettered behavior, which she calls living for the moment.

Wheeler notes that Markham takes liberties with certain facts and sometimes deviates from the historical record. She points out that Markham speaks often about her relationship with her father but does not mention other close family members, omitting any mention of her mother and brother, her three husbands, and her son. While Markham is best known for her flying, Wheeler notes, the memoir focuses as much on her background with Kenyans, animals, and training horses.

Wheeler discusses the author’s rumored romantic relationships, some with members of the British royal family. She relates that the author’s estranged third husband attempted to take credit for the book, though his claims were disproven.

Markham describes a series of events that took place in 1935 when she was the only female bush pilot in Kenya. The author describes Africa as a huge, mysterious, mostly unknown place.