Edith And I On The Trail Of An Edwardian Traveller In Kosovo

Two Kosovo journeys a
century apart. In 1900 Europe's last wilderness was explored by a most
unlikely champion, a stout, stubborn Englishwoman who traveled in her
tam o'shanter across the Accursed Mountains into Kosovo. Edith Durham
was dubbed 'Queen of the Highlanders' by the Albanians who honored her
for her anthropological writing, her humanitarian aid and her tireless
lobbying for their cause. One hundred years later, Elizabeth Gowing came
to Kosovo and also fell in love with the country. Dividing her time
between there and London, she thought that no-one would understand her
identity crisis; but as Elizabeth unravels Edith's story through
archives and museum collections in Britain and retraces Edith's steps in
Kosovo she learns from her what she should do with her life. Tracing
the revelations in old diaries, jolting along Kosovan roads in a
'motokultivator', learning from Edith the secrets of the harem, and from
monks the treasures of Unesco World Heritage Site monasteries,
Elizabeth travels on Edith's trail and ends up finding not only an
Edwardian heroine but also a guide to her own very twenty-first century
dilemma. Elizabeth's first book, Travels in Blood and Honey; becoming a
beekeeper in Kosovo (Signal Books, 2011) was described by The Times as
'a sheer delight; a beguiling, bittersweet story of a lively love affair
with a traditional world - in transition to new nationhood', and by The
Lady as 'a bold, unique stride across genres - with a sense of humor
and Famous Five enthusiasm'