Congo Solo: Misadventures Two Degrees North - Softcover

Hahn, Emily; Cuthbertson, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0773539042 ISBN 13: 9780773539044

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011

Synopsis

A woman who lived life on her own terms, Hahn was an unknown and struggling writer when Congo Solo was published. Here - restored to the form she had intended - is Hahn's unforgettable narrative, a vivid, provocative, and at times disturbing first-hand account of the racism, brutality, sexism, and exploitation that were everyday life realities under Belgium's iron-fisted colonial rule. Until now, the few copies of Congo Solo in circulation were the adulterated version, which the author altered after pressure from her publisher and threats of litigation from the main character's family. This edition makes available a lost treasure of women's travel writing that shocks and impresses, while shedding valuable light on the gender and race politics of the period.

About this title

About the Author:

Ken Cuthbertson is the author of two critically acclaimed books of non-fiction, including Nobody Said Not to Go: The Life, Loves, and Adventures of Emily Hahn and Inside: The Biography of John Gunther, shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award.

Review:

"There is a long chain of accounts by literary travellers to the Congo over more than a century, and it is good to have one such revealing narrative carefully restored to an uncensored version at last. The chilling episode at its heart reminds one of the cruel megalomania of Joseph Conrad's Mr. Kurtz." Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost

"This fascinating, contemporaneous account will appeal to intrepid travelers." Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0773539042
• ISBN 13: 9780773539044
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312