The Women I Think About at Night
Traveling the Paths of My Heroes
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In this “thought-provoking blend of history, biography, women’s studies, and travelogue” (Library Journal) Mia Kankimäki recounts her enchanting travels in Japan, Kenya, and Italy while retracing the steps of ten remarkable female pioneers from history.
What can a forty-something childless woman do? Bored with her life and feeling stuck, Mia Kankimäki leaves her job, sells her apartment, and decides to travel the world, following the paths of the female explorers and artists from history who have long inspired her. She flies to Tanzania and then to Kenya to see where Karen Blixen—of Out of Africa fame—lived in the 1920s. In Japan, Mia attempts to cure her depression while researching Yayoi Kusama, the contemporary artist who has voluntarily lived in a psychiatric hospital for decades. In Italy, Mia spends her days looking for the works of forgotten Renaissance women painters of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and finally finds her heroines in the portraits of Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, and Atremisia Gentileschi. If these women could make it in the world hundreds of years ago, why can’t Mia?
The Women I Think About at Night is “an astute, entertaining…[and] insightful” (Publishers Weekly) exploration of the lost women adventurers of history who defied expectations in order to see—and change—the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Finnish author Kankim ki profiles in this astute, entertaining work 10 daring female writers and artists who took risks in their quest toward fulfillment. At 42, Kankim ki sold her apartment and quit her job to travel and write ("I have no husband, no children... I'm free, but an outsider"), a decision she credits as being inspired by the women she writes about here. The women all "guardian angels" who overcame sexism, oppression, or money woes to live out their dreams of traveling and creating art include Italian Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi, who was raped at 17 then became a renowned painter of "female-dominated" works; Isabella Bird, a depressed 19th-century British spinster who, at 40, revitalized her life when she took a trip around the world and wrote about her destinations; and Danish-born Karen Blixen, who started a coffee farm in British East Africa, lost her money, and moved in with her mother at 46 before writing the bestseller Out of Africa. Along the way, Kankim ki, a spirited narrator, highlights her own travels to Tanzania, Italy, Japan and shares advice ("Don't give a damn what other people think"). This insightful book will appeal to adventure enthusiasts and be an inspiration for those with an eye on hitting their stride later in life.
