Adia was born in Kenya of a white American archeologist mother and a white Kenyan absent father. She spent her early childhood in a Masai village raised by a barren African Masai woman. From there she went to school in Nairobi where her mother was going through the motions of educating her child but not really paying much attention to her. Adia was that girl who stayed in one place and all her classmates came and went. She was odd. After her grandmother appeared on the scene, Adia ended up in boarding school in her passport country. Her grandparents always wanted her to “come home” but their home was never hers. Boarding school had its own challenges of fitting in with a culture she knew nothing about.
Grace was also born in Kenya, but her parents moved around. Her father worked for the State Department. Her mother had been an aid worker in Kenya but had a traumatic experience and found consolation from an Embassy man. Her future husband. Grace and her parents bounced from the USA to several other African countries before returning to Nairobi where she met Adia. Grace was fed up with moving around and Adia was like nobody she had met before. Grace was tired of the in-between life of the expats. She loved that Adia was so comfortable in her environment.
I love the way this book weaves in the different aspects of Third Culture Kids. It touches on having strong ties to one culture when the parents and grandparents are not part of that culture. The pull of family. The possibility of a different kind of family. Immersing in culture. And living on the edges of culture. It also goes into how people adapt to pain and grief and, of course, change.
I really appreciated and enjoyed this book. I could really relate to it.
I was originally drawn to this book for two reasons. One, Tibet is on my bucket list and I am determined to go there. Second, the tag line, A Journey in Search of Home made me think it had something to do with being a Third Culture Kid. TCK’s never know where home is.
This book is not about Tibet or TCK’s. Haha. Laughs on me. However, it is an amazing book!
Several years ago I had explored taking a trip to the Upper Mustang Region of Nepal. It is a remote place on the Tibetan border. Upper Mustang was a restricted area and forbidden to outsiders until 1992. Even today one needs special permits to go there and there is a limit of 1000 permits per year. It was formerly known as the Kingdom of Lo and became a dependency of Nepal from 1795 to 2008, when it ceased to exist. The capital was the ancient walled city of Lo-Manthang. It is known for its rich Tibetan culture and history.
Rose Lane, an Australian, discovered her family home was going to be sold. She hadn’t lived there in years but when she heard this it hit her hard. She felt loss and grief. As she travels on horseback through this very remote area, she reflects on what that house meant to her and the important moments she lived through growing up in that house.
It is a journey of self discovery but also a real journey. She carries with her a copy of Michael Piessel’s book, Mustang: A Lost Tibetan Kingdom, which was published in 1967. He was one of the first if not the first person from the West to travel to and write about the area. Rose notices garbage along the way, motorcycles, things he would not have seen. There is now a semblance of a road that allows people to travel on four-wheel drive jeeps to the area but mostly people still go as trekkers or on horseback. She imagined herself as Freya Stark or Alexandra David-Neel, a fearless woman explorer.
Rose takes us through vast areas of empty mountain deserts. I wished there were photos because it sounded like it was breathtaking. The trip was not easy, it was rugged. No hot water, squat toilet outhouses, milky tea and noodles, and very high altitudes but amazing sights. Monasteries, palaces, prayer flags. All worn and many destroyed from the recent earthquake.
I was enthralled by it all.
At one point she says she would like to go to Timbuktu but it is impossible to get there these days. She contacted a friend about going there and he told her that she could try stowing away in a boat and go up the river. And here is my favorite quote of the book:
I recently read a couple of books on the Lost Generation. Gertrude Stein An Afterlife by Francesca Wade was excellent. If you are a Gertrude fan, like I am. This book covers her life but also tells us what happened after her death. Where all her writing went, what happened to Alice. Gertrude was pretty much a nut but she had a very interesting life. I found out that in December 1970, long after she and most of her family were dead, the MOMA in New York City put on an exhibit of all the paintings they purchased. They were able to gather them up from various owners around the world and put on a show called Four Americans in Paris featuring the collected art purchased by Gertrude, her brothers Leo and Michael and Michael’s wife, Sarah.
Gertrude and her two brothers, Leo and Michael
I managed to find the brochure from the MOMA website. The exhibit is impressive with about 100 Picasso’s alone, along with Matisse, Manet, Laurencin, Gris, Cezanne and many others.
I also read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. It is a novel based on Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson. Of course Gertrude is in it as well as Fitzgerald, Pound and others. It was an easy and interesting read. I learned a lot about Hemingway and the others. I got the impression that Hadley was his one and only true love. It made me want to learn more about Hemingway. He was another character.
I read one other book that had nothing to do with Paris. It came with all kinds of recommendations from celebrities and is on lots of “lists”. This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. It is a novel about a family with five boys except the youngest wants to be a girl. To be honest I thought this book was pretty ridiculous. But since it was presented as a novel, I read the whole thing. What topped it off for me was the Author’s Note at the end where the author spends three pages telling us about her transgender child and that this book has nothing to do with her personal story. Why? Who cares? There is no way I could ever believe this story was true. It was totally unrealistic. No reason to tell me it was not true and no reason to spend three pages doing it. Ugh.
Yes, the subject is real but the way this family handled it was truly unbelievable. My opinion.
That time of year again. I spent Christmas Day watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Seems to be my new holiday ritual. I always see new things in it. This year I paid particular attention to the landscape since I have just been to New Zealand. I did recognize some of it. That was fun. Of course it always ends well which is another plus.
This year was pretty eventful. I went to Mexico in January. Enjoyed the good food in Oaxaca. I was surprised by how hot it was, though. Oaxaca is at 5000 feet and I would have thought it would have been cooler in January but not so. Did some traveling around the countryside and saw some ruins and some textiles and some art. All good.
I was called for Jury duty. One boring day of sitting around and then nothing more. Big disappointment. I was hoping for a juicy trial.
May took me to Miami and Key West. Another hot one. Nice to see the ocean and old friends.
In August I went to see Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. This was where Frank Lloyd Write lived and worked. He was quite the eccentric. It is a beautiful setting.
At the end of August my book came out but I had to postpone my launch until December. The launch went really well and I am pleased with the book. You should read it!
In October I went to Fiji and New Zealand. Wonderful trip. I had to go to Fiji because my father always said it was his most favorite place to visit. I would concur, it was pretty great. And New Zealand was beautiful plus I got the bonus of seeing a couple of old friends.
November was my son’s wedding. It was a lot of fun and I am happy for him.
I have three book ideas I am working on. Actually I think I have narrowed it down to two. It is kind of slow going but as the days get lighter so do I. The brain is churning away.
Looking forward to Florida, Spain, and Belgium in the new year. And who knows what else. Anything can happen!
The day has finally come. It feels like I have been working on this book forever.
But now, here it is!
I have set up some pages to go with the book. Lots of pictures and videos. Praise from readers. And info on where to get it. Also info on how to get a review copy. Click on Much More Info below or on Echoes of a Global Life in the menu above.
ECHOES OF A GLOBAL LIFE by Kathleen Gamble A story of survival from Burma to Moscow and beyond. Memoir. Travel stories. Living in interesting times.
Echoes of a Global Life is part memoir, part travelogue, part history lesson. Kathleen lives in a world of constant change. Moving from city to city she says goodbye to one and starts to explore the next. Never two the same. She is a survivor. She keeps on going. Through trauma, including a plane crash, and other scary times, there is also humor. Kathleen was born in Asia and lived on five continents before she was eighteen. She takes you to Burma, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Russia. She weaves in parts of each country she carries with her. Her family lives through a coup in Burma, student rioting in Colombia, two coups in Nigeria, and political unrest in Russia. Sometimes things are fabulous. Sometimes they are not. She is a Third Culture Kid, rootless and restless. As an adult she lived in Moscow for nine years during the 1990’s where she witnessed history in the making and a terrifying exit. Life is never boring.
