WEST WITH THE NIGHT appeared on 13 bestseller lists on first publication in 1942. It tells the spellbinding story of Beryl Markham – aviator, racehorse trainer, fascinating beauty -and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and 30s.
Markham was taken to Kenya at the age of four. As an adult she was befriended by Denys Finch-Hatton, the big-game hunter of OUT OF AFRICA fame, who took her flying in his airplane.
Thrilled by the experience, Markham went on to become the first woman in Kenya to receive a commercial pilot’s license. In 1936 she determined to fly solo across the Atlantic – without stopping.
When Charles Lindbergh did the same, he had the wind behind him. Markham, by contrast, had a strong headwind against her and a plane that only flew up to 163 mph.
On 4 September, she took off … Several days later, she crash-landed in Nova Scotia and became an instant celebrity.