Product Description

Markham, an early pioneer in aviation, was a passionate, free-spirited girl struggling to come to terms with her identity and her place in the world. This biography tells of the obstacles she faced and how she overcame adversity to follow her dreams of flying.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #482870 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10. Markham defied convention from the days of her childhood to become the first person to fly the Atlantic from east to west. Her life was full of adventure, hardship, daring, and courage, and throughout it all, the woman was fiercely independent. Her father moved the family from England to Africa when she was quite young, and she learned the ways of the land from the natives. After an unhappy first marriage that had been arranged by her father, Markham struck out on her own, established a stable of horses and a reputation as a trainer, married, and had a child, whose care she gladly relinquished to her mother-in-law in England. Not long afterwards, she left her husband and began her career as a pilot. Just a month shy of her 34th birthday, she made her trans-Atlantic flight. Throughout her life, Markham remained untamed by society's conventions, unrelenting in pursuing her goals, and fiercely devoted to the people and things she loved. Gourley has captured the essence of this fascinating woman's story. This rich narrative, with its engaging structure, is as spirited and intriguing as the subject herself.?Marilyn (Makowski) Heath, Greenwood High School, SC
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6^-10. In September 1936, Beryl Markham became the first person to fly solo from east to west across the Atlantic Ocean. She was born in 1902, grew up very unconventionally as a British subject in what is now Kenya, where she lived with her father. A rebellious child, she constantly ran away from her tutor and learned at an early age to train race horses. Unhappily married at 16 to a man twice her age, she spent her young adulthood flying small planes, assisting safari hunters in locating their prey. Always looking for challenge and adventure, she agreed to attempt the record-breaking 1936 flight. Six years later, her memoir, West with the Night, was published. Drawing heavily on that autobiography, Gourley offers a lively account of Markham's nonconformist, often exciting early life. An epilogue sketches in the 50 years that followed her historic flight. Susan DeRonne

Customer Reviews

Beryl Markham: Never Turn Back
If you have never heard of Beryl Markham, let me tell you, you're in for a wild ride ahead. I first became acquainted with her when reading her book "West with the Night". Immediately fascinated, I then went about searching for anything and everything about this enchantress, and have read many more books about her by now. She lived in Kenya, flew a gypsy-moth over the Atlantic, knew Baroness Karen Blixen/aka Isak Dinesen, had an alliance with the lovable Denys Finch-Hatton of Out of Africa fame, trained horses, made a splash in Hollywood and so much more ... there is never a dull moment when you are reading about Beryl! Very magnetic personality, even when you have met her only in books!